The Horizons Beyond
by JJ2161
Summary: When two worlds with predefined mindsets, knowledge, and ideals have to throw all of that out the window after contacting a new player. Humanity. (Babylon 5/Mass Effect AU crossover with a Star Trek-based Humanity and Stargate-based Precursors)
1. Timeline

**A/N: This is the timeline of the Horizons Beyond universe. I tried the most to integrate the Mass Effect and Babylon 5 universes and the USF's history. Also, While I intend to tell the story beginning with the first contact with the Babylon 5 races, this timeline goes decades beyond this event, so some may find it spoilerish. My idea is to create two separate stories, one focusing in the Human contact with the Babylon 5 races and other with the Mass Effect races, while this one is for codex entries, information and, maybe, fillers.**

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 **Circa 14 Billion BCE**

Creation of the Universe.

 **Circa 12 Billion BCE**

Formation of the Milky Way galaxy.

 **Circa 7 Billion BCE**

Birth of Lorien, the first sentient being in the Milky Way galaxy. He along with those that were born in the years after him are naturally immortal. At first, Lorien's race, the so-called Firstborn, is kept in balance by birth rates, with less than a handful being born each year but eventually, the younger generations begin to be born mortal, eventually growing old, getting ill, and dying, while those that were the first, go on.

Lorien and the others of his race go out into the galaxy and discover other, younger races, including the races that would become known as the Vorlons, the Shadows, the Leviathans, the Viatori, and most of the other races that would one day be collectively called "the First Ones".

Lorien's race helped them to develop, and nurtured them, acting as their teachers and guardians. Eventually, Lorien's race would step aside and allow these new races to stand on their own and over the eons eventually becoming the teachers and guardians of the younger races as they begin to arise.

The surviving immortal members of Lorien's race, those who have not died through injury or illness travel beyond The Rim to the void between galaxies, leaving Lorien behind as the last and the first of his race.

 **Circa 5 Billion BCE**

An underground city is built by some of the First Ones on the planet that would eventually become known as Beta Durani VII.

 **Circa 4.57 - 4.54 Billion BCE**

Formation of the star Sol and its system of planets, including the planet that would eventually become known as Earth.

 **Circa 3.5 Billion BCE**

The first building blocks of life begin to form on Earth.

 **Circa 2.2 Billion BCE**

The Leviathans, a race of aquatic gigantic aliens known by the other First Ones as the "Lords of Mass" enthrall every new sapient race they encounter and protect them in return for tribute. The Leviathans consider themselves the galaxy's apex race, despite not the older.

After observing that their subservient races create synthetic races which consistently and violently rebel, the Leviathans create an Intelligence to seek a way to permanently preserve organic life. The Intelligence builds an army of "pawns" to gather genetic information throughout space.

The Intelligence turns on the Leviathans, using its pawns to slaughter them for their genetic material to create Harbinger, the first Reaper. Thus begins the cyclical harvest of the intelligent organic life by the Reapers, part of a vast experiment conducted by the Intelligence to fulfill its mandate. The remaining Leviathans leave beyond the Rim, where they know the Reapers cannot find them. Some remain.

The Intelligence, to cut the time between their harvest cycles, build Mass Relays throughout the Galaxy to guide the races to the "right path" and creates the indoctrination process to increase the efficiency of the cycles, allowing galactic civilizations to develop faster and more consistently between the harvests.

After a devastating conflict against the First Ones, the Reapers agree to not spread far from their Mass Relays in exchange for the non-interference of the First Ones. The only spot of previous Leviathan and later Reaper influence within the space where the First Ones lived, a Mass Relay that would be called Mordor Relay in the future, is put dormant by the First Ones. The Reapers wait, knowing that one day, they would be strong to fight the First Ones.

 **Circa 1 Billion BCE**

After destroying a thousand worlds, the race of First Ones that would become known as The Hand are captured by other First Ones and as punishment are banished to a parallel dimension through a gateway built in the underground city of Beta Durani VII. From their prison, The Hand are still able to watch this universe.

A record of the deeds and fate of The Hand is left in the city, with a warning that they could one day find a way back. However, as the eons pass the city, the gateway and The Hand pass out of memory.

The Leviathan of Dis, a Reaper, is killed by the Leviathans. Its corpse comes to rest on the planet Jartar and remains undisturbed for nearly one billion years.

 **Circa 500 Million BCE**

In their attempts to reach ascension, the Atlanians, the most advanced species in their home galaxy, perform unimaginable experiments. Those experiments lead to the creation of their worst enemy, a plague that starts wiping out their populations.

To destroy this plague, the Atlanians turn to the Old Halos. Gateway devices created by the Atlanians to reach a new plane of existence, the Halos are modified to become a weapon of unimaginable destructive power.

The Old Halos are activated, destroying the plague, but also 99.9% of the Atlan population.

 **Circa 310 Million BCE**

Millions of years after the firing of the Old Halos, the Atlanian civilization is at its zenith again.

The Atlanians discover ascension.

The Atlanians are divided into two different groups with different ideologies regarding ascension: the Atlan'ti ( _True to Atlan_ ), who believe that ascension is no more than a path to a new form of existence and ascended beings should not interfere in the affairs of the lower planes, and the Ardori ( _Sacred Fire_ ), who believed that ascension is a path to godhood and, thus, as ascended beings they should be worshiped.

The Atlanian Civil War begins.

The Ardori discover that the worship of lesser species endows them with power.

 **Circa 300 Million BCE**

The Battle of Atlan, the Atlanian homeworld. Fed by the worship of half a galaxy, the Ardori manage to drive the Atlanti out of Atlan. Ascended and non-ascended Atlanti and Ardori fight over Atlan in the lower and higher planes, destroying much of the life of their galaxy. Defeated, but not before giving a heavy blow on the Ardori, the Atlanti flee their galaxy.

After twenty-thousand years, the Atlanti have crossed 14 billion light-years before reaching the border of a new galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy. Extremely advanced, these refugees take their place among the First Ones and become Lórien's favorites, making envy in some Elder Races, such as the Vorlons.

The Atlanti establish their capital, Thera Atlantos, on the planet they called Erde-Tyrene. This planet would in the future be known as Earth.

Even if known as the "Youngest Among the Elder Races", no one knows the true origins of the Atlanti or how old they really are.

The Atlanti find the Éonns, the most pacifistic race among the First Ones, and both races become trustful allies.

The Atlanti start to meddle with the evolution of life in Earth, leading to the evolution of the first proto-mammals.

 **Circa 65 Million BCE**

An alliance of Vorlons, Kirishiac, and Shadows at war against the Atlanti bombards Earth, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs.

As punishment, the Atlanti destroy the Vorlon and Shadow original homeworlds, forcing them to colonize the planets currently known as Vorlon Prime and Z'ha'dum.

 **Circa 37 Million BCE**

An unknown spacefaring race fires a mass accelerator round at a Reaper near the planet Mnemosyne. The round penetrates the Reaper, disabling it, and continues moving through space, eventually striking the planet Klendagon and creating the geological feature there known as the Great Rift Valley.

 **Circa 3 Million BCE**

With the Atlanti interference, the ape-like genus that will eventually produce the Human race evolves on Earth. The Atlanti use their own DNA to program the future Human evolutionary path.

At some point the Vorlons discover this species and, as they have done on many other worlds, they try to manipulate the young race to see them as "beings of light", but they are stopped by the Atlanti.

 **Circa 1.5 Million BCE**

The Vorlons have visited a thousand worlds.

After having visited a thousand worlds, the Vorlons begin to believe that they truly are gods, as the younger races see them. In their pride, they come to believe that they belonged to another higher plane and that they were superior to the universe that gave them birth. With this, the Vorlons resolved to apply all of their collective wisdom and knowledge to transcend this dimension to another place they believed to be the Well of Souls, the foundation of life itself and in doing so become true gods.

The Vorlons build and activate their gate, though they quickly realize the true depth of their mistake when they discover the universe they are trying to escape to contains an incomprehensibly powerful and malevolent race. Even older than the Vorlons, they had in their own universe destroyed thousands of races and continued to destroy thousands more, driven by a hunger beyond any understanding and the belief that only they have the right to exist and all others must be exterminated. Modifying the Vorlon gate to amplify their telepathy, the "Anti-Life" creatures used it to turn many of the Vorlons into their followers, willing to die for them.

To fight this threat, deep inside their territory and far from the eyes of the other First Ones, the Vorlons that were not affected by the enemy's telepathic impulses gather all their remaining forces. A thousand worlds were destroyed before they could disable the gate, though those still under its influence dropped it into Hyperspace before the others could stop them and hide it away. The gate will continue to drift while the Vorlons search for it over the next million years. After the incident, the Vorlons create a race memory so that none of them will ever forget and that those that would serve them will know when the gate is found again.

During the conflict between the Vorlons and the extradimensional invaders, a different conflict is developing in Atlanti space. The plague they ran from in their home galaxy has found them. For it not to spread, the Atlanti isolate their space from the rest of the galaxy and fight bravely. Desperate, the Atlanti build a downscaled version of an Old Halo in the core of their space and fire it, destroying much of their civilization, but exterminating the plague. In order to fight the plague if it ever comes back, the Atlanti build a new array of Halos, this time centered on Dakara, without the knowledge of the other First Ones

On a visit to Earth the Vorlons take genetic samples from the Atlanti population. Differently, from other telepathic Elder Races, such as the Vorlons themselves, the Atlanti telepathic abilities could be passed to the younger races. From the Atlanti genes, the Vorlons start re-engineering the DNA from these samples to create the telepath gene and spread it through the younger races. This violation makes the Atlanti go to war against the Vorlons.

 **Circa 1 Million BCE**

Having created great empires, explored the galaxy and become vast and timeless, most among the First Ones, having tired of their roles as guardians, slowly leave over the course of a million years. Some travel beyond The Galactic Rim to join the others that went before them, never to be seen again. Others, such as the Viatori, would stay open and travel among the stars between their places of power, barely aware of the younger races. The Atlanti and the Éonns choose to stay. The galaxy becomes a silent void, as the Elders are no longer there and the ones that remained isolate themselves from the others, their space heavily protected.

Among those that chose to stay are the Vorlons and the Shadows who together would become the last guardians of the younger races. They begin fighting against one another in a war of ideology. The Vorlons favoring evolution though control and discipline while the Shadows believe that the only way for the younger races to progress is through conflict and war.

At the onset of their wars, rules of engagement were formulated through the mediation of Lorien which both sides agree to honor in order to maintain a balance. They also dictated that the Vorlons and the Shadows would not strike at each other directly.

Lorien settles in the catacombs deep beneath Z'ha'dum. In the years to come, his presence there would be the reason that the Shadows persist in returning to this world every time they are driven off again and again during their wars of chaos. They believe that they are showing respect.

On Shir-Shraba, the Hyach-do break away from the main evolutionary line of the Hyach becoming a separate race. At first, the two races compete for land and resources, but over time they eventually learn to live together.

 **Circa 497,800 BCE**

The Éonns, also known as "the Recorders" given their love for recording the history of civilizations, create the Vindrizi as a species of genetically neutral symbiotic being to record all aspects of their hosts. Over the millennia they observe events all over the galaxy so that others can learn about the past when all the records have been lost in the next dark age.

 **Circa 298,000 BCE**

The ancient mass effect-using Arthenn race flourish in the Zelene system, living on the planet Helyme until being destroyed in an unknown event that wiped out all complex life on the planet. They also maintained a presence on other planets in the system including Epho, which bears the scars of an ancient orbital bombardment, and Gaelon, which may have been mined for helium-3.

The first primitive Humans evolve on Earth.

 **Circa 125,000 BCE**

Ancient mass effect-using spacefaring races called the Thoi'han and Inusannon fight over the planet Eingana, littering the planet with the debris of hundreds of starships. Refined element zero scattered by broken drive cores contaminates the environment, causing many native species to go extinct and those that survive to show a tendency to develop biotic powers.

 **Circa 68,000 BCE**

The Protheans achieve interstellar travel.

Discovering mass effect technology from the ruins of the extinct Inusannon, the Protheans go on to establish a galaxy-wide civilization linked by the Mass Relay network with the Citadel as their capital.

At some point, the Protheans encounter a hostile race of machine intelligences that endanger their existence. To combat this threat, the Protheans aggressively assimilate many other spacefaring organic races into their empire. The Prothean Empire is able to fend off the machines in a conflict known as the "Metacon War".

 **Circa 50,000 BCE**

The Protheans experiment on many younger and pre-sentient races, being the Hanar and the Asari their main subjects. By the other hand, the Salarians' ancestors are a delicacy very appreciated by the Protheans.

The Asari civilization dawns on Thessia.

The Hanar civilization dawns on Kahje.

The Vorlons and the Shadows stop fighting and develop a new way to show who is right. They call it "The Great Experiment".

To avoid any Atlanti interference into their "Great Experiment", the Vorlons and the Shadow go to war against the Atlanti.

The Dakara Array is completed, but the Atlanti are no more the power they once were. The plague wiped out the majority of their civilization. Though victorious in wiping every cell of the abomination from the galaxy, the Atlanti are weakened.

The Vorlons and the Shadows push into Atlanti territory.

 **Circa 47,500 BCE:** Fall of the Protheans

The Prothean Empire collapses with the arrival of the Reapers through the Citadel. Although the Protheans had learned of the Reapers' existence from studying the ruins of previous civilizations and had begun to prepare, they were nonetheless caught off-guard. Over the next several centuries, the Protheans fight the Reapers system by system, world by world, and city by city. In the end, it is not enough. The Reapers methodically wipe out the remaining Protheans, as well as other contemporary races, and depart the galaxy to await the next cycle.

 **Circa 30,000 BCE**

Extinction of the Neanderthals, on Earth.

 **Circa 19,000 BCE**

In Tuchanka, the Krogan civilization enters the nuclear age. A set of worldwide wars fought with nuclear weapons triggers a nuclear winter. The Krogan civilization finds itself at the edge of extinction, with the last populations devolving into a collection of primitive clans.

 **Circa 13,000 BCE**

The Turian civilization dawns on Palaven.

 **Circa 10,000 BCE**

Their capital-nation on Earth, the city-island of Thera Atlantos (as big as France and west to present-day Portugal), was the Atlanti only remaining home. The rest of the planet was abandoned to be reclaimed by nature. Only some millions of Atlanti remain.

Some Atlanti decide to go beyond The Rim, others choose to ascend.

The Atlanti, knowing of the incoming "mercy" strike by the Vorlons, engage in a contingency plan. To the evolving Human species, that the Atlanti were guiding and engineering as their image, is given part of the Atlanti genome, to preserve the Atlanti species. By any means, the Humans were just less evolved Atlanti. They terraform many worlds in the star systems near Sol to allow Humanity to expand quickly in the future. Many of those worlds are currently major Human worlds such as Valinor, Asgard, Thermidor, and Proxima.

 **Circa 9,500 BCE:** The Fall of Atlantis

The Last Battle, between the Atlanti and the Vorlon-Shadow alliance, occurs on Earth's orbit. The legendary "Last Fleet", formed by the last Atlanti warships, is destroyed but not before destroying half of the Vorlon-Shadow fleet.

The Atlanti launch cloaked drones to space while the Vorlons and Shadows launch an attack at the Atlanti remnant in Atlantis, blowing up the island. When the Vorlons are out, the cloaked drones create a new jumpspace storm bubble in a large area around Earth, isolating it from the rest of the galaxy, and self-destruct. The Atlanti also put a cloaking field around the dormant Mordor Relay and put it in Jumpspace. So the Humans would detect it only when they become advanced enough.

The storm bubble, with a crescent-like shape, would become known as the Atlanti Crescent. It would isolate Humanity from the rest of the Galaxy and allow them to evolve without manipulations.

The remaining Atlanti on the galaxy ascend. Atlanti civilization is extinguished.

 **Circa 7,800 BCE**

Having abided by Lorien's rules of engagement for millennia, one of the two sides violate the rules and when the Shadows again begin to encourage conflict between the races, they are fought to a standstill by an alliance of the Vorlons and the other remaining First Ones and driven back to their stronghold at Z'ha'dum. After this "Last Great War" against the Shadows, the First Ones go into hiding and await the return of the Shadows.

Sensing the physical death of a billion lives, the Soul Hunters descend on Ralga and take the entire species' souls. Unknown to them, the Ralgans were not dying, but evolving into a higher, incorporeal state and are trapped when the Soul Hunters place them all into a single soul globe and leave them in one of their Whisper Galleries.

The inhabitants of Ceti IV abandon one of their underground cities.

The Quarian civilization dawns on Rannoch.

 **Circa 6,000 BCE**

The Minbari civilization dawns on Minbar.

Seeking to escape the imminent explosion of their sun, an alien race constructs an AI-managed starship equipped with supercomputers containing a virtual world, into which some one billion of the aliens transfer their consciousnesses. The starship begins a journey throughout the galaxy which lasts for the next 8,000 years.

The Centauri civilization dawns on Centauri Prime.

 **Circa 5,000 BCE**

The Human civilization dawns on Earth.

The empires of Babylon, in the area known as Mesopotamia, located on the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates, and Egypt, around the African river Nile, are widely considered to be the cradle of Human civilization. Babylonian and Egyptian mythology tells of a time before the creation of the Earth when different generations of ancient and powerful gods fought one another in a war of Order against Chaos.

 **Circa 4,600 BCE**

The first known network of Jumpgates is built by an unknown alien civilization.

The Hyach civilization dawns on Shir-Shraba.

 **Circa 3,600 BCE**

The Abbai civilization dawns on Ssumssha.

 **Circa 2,600 BCE**

The Yolu civilization dawns on Pa'ri.

The Narn civilization dawns on Narn.

 **Circa 1,600 BCE**

Hyach civilization stabilizes.

Birth of the Soul Hunter that, in 2263, will come to Starbase Babylon to retrieve the Ralgan Soul Globe.

 **Circa 1,100 BCE**

The Markab civilization dawns on Septis.

The Salarian civilization dawns on Sur'Kesh.

 **Circa 600 BCE**

The Drazi civilization dawns on Zhabar.

 **Circa 500 BCE**

The Yolu achieve interstellar travel.

 **Circa 250 BCE:**

The Dilgar civilization dawns on Omelos.

 **Circa 230 BCE**

The Asari achieve interstellar travel.

After developing faster-than-light spacefaring capabilities based upon Prothean technology, the Asari begin to explore the Mass Relay network and eventually discover the huge Citadel space station at a hub of many Mass Relays.

 **Circa 170 BCE**

The Salarians achieve interstellar travel.

With faster-than-light travel based upon Prothean technology, the Salarians discover the Citadel and open diplomatic relations with the Asari.

 **Circa 150 BCE:** Founding of the Citadel Council

The Citadel Council is formed. The Asari and Salarians together colonize the Citadel and establish it as a center of the galactic community, led by the Council. This year is also known as 0 GS, the beginning of the Mass Effect Space Galactic Standard (GS) timeline.

As a gesture of openness with their new Asari allies, the Salarian Union opens the records of the League of One. Under threat, the League responds by assassinating every member of the Union's inner cabinet; Special Tasks Group operatives then hunt down and eliminate the League.

The Turian Unification War occurs. The increasingly isolated and xenophobic colonies on the frontiers of Turian space go to war with each other. After years of fighting, the Turian Hierarchy sweeps in and pacifies the remaining factions. Animosity between Turian colonies continues for decades.

 **Circa 50 BCE**

The Volus achieve interstellar travel.

The Citadel Council makes first contact with the Volus. Eventually, the Citadel Council commissions the Volus to draw up the Unified Banking Act, which establishes a Mass Effect Space standard galactic currency known as the credit and links all mass effect-using galactic economies.

The Council grants the Volus the "honor" of being the first non-Council species with an embassy at the Citadel, rather than a Council seat.

 **Circa 1 CE:**

The Batarians achieve interstellar travel.

The Citadel Council makes first contact with the Batarians. They are granted an embassy one century later.

 **Circa 50 CE**

The Asari discover the Elcor home system and help the Elcor locate and activate their nearest Mass Relay.

With the Asari's help, the Elcor achieve interstellar travel.

"Within one Elcor lifetime," they establish a regular trade route to the Citadel and are granted an embassy.

 **Circa 100 CE**

The Batarians are granted an embassy at the Citadel.

The Hanar achieve interstellar travel.

The Quarians achieve interstellar travel.

 **Circa 150 CE**

First contact is made with the Hanar and the Quarians. Both races are later granted embassies.

 **Circa 250 CE**

The Rachni achieve interstellar travel

 **Circa 350 CE:** The Rachni Wars

The Rachni, a species of highly intelligent hive-minded insects, are discovered when a Citadel expedition opens a dormant Mass Relay leading to their star systems. The Rachni prove to be hostile and begin a war with the rest of the galaxy. Negotiation with the Rachni queens is impossible because they cannot be contacted in their underground nests on the toxic Rachni worlds.

 **Circa 430 CE**

The Rachni Wars continue. The Salarians make first contact with and uplift the primitive Krogan, manipulating them into acting as soldiers for the Citadel Council.

The Krogan achieve interstellar travel.

The Krogans prove able to survive the harsh environments of the Rachni worlds and pursue the Rachni into their nests, systematically eradicating queens and eggs.

 **Circa 400 CE**

The last of the known ancient jumpgates is built, marking the apparent disappearance of the builder's civilization as no other trace of them is found.

 **Circa 461 CE**

The Brakiri civilization dawns on Brakir.

The Grome civilization dawns on Gromahk.

The Pak'Ma'Ra civilization dawns on Pak'ma.

 **Circa 462 CE**

On Centauri Prime, Tuscano becomes the first Emperor. After the construction of the first Royal Palace, he commissions the Centauri Imperial Palace Guard, incorporating his seal into the buttons on their uniforms. He also commissions The Eye, an elaborate jewel that becomes the symbol of the authority of the Emperors.

 **Circa 650 CE**

The Rachni are declared extinct. In gratitude for their aid during the Rachni Wars, the Council rewards the Krogan a new homeworld. Free of the harsh environment of Tuchanka, the Krogan population explodes.

 **Circa 650 - 1050 CE**

On Centauri Prime, the great Emperor Olion has a series of catacombs constructed beneath the capital city to the outlying regions as a means of escape. According to legend, Olion was absolutely paranoid that his people might turn against him. The only person aside from Olion who knew the layout of the maze was the catacomb's architect whom the Emperor had assassinated to keep the secret.

The Krogan begin to expand exponentially, colonizing many new worlds. Growing concerns about their expansion lead to the founding of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel.

Beelo Gurji, a Salarian operative, is appointed the first Spectre by the Citadel Council.

 **Circa 900 CE**

The Turians achieve interstellar travel.

 **Circa 1050 CE:** The Krogan Rebellions

Krogan warlords leverage veterans of the Rachni Wars to annex territory from other races in Citadel space. Eventually the Council demands withdrawal from the Asari colony of Lusia, but the Krogan refuse. A preemptive strike is made on Krogan infrastructures by the Spectres. The Krogan Rebellions begin.

The Citadel Council makes first contact with the Turians around this time and persuades them to aid in the war. Afterwards, the Krogan respond to the initial Turian offensive by devastating Turian colonies with weapons of mass destruction, the Turians vow to stop the Krogan from ever becoming a threat again.

Sometime after the Turians join the galactic community, the Volus are accepted as a client race of the Turian Hierarchy.

 **Circa 1060 CE**

Realizing that the Krogan will never give in as long as they can replenish their fighters, the Turians unleash a Salarian-engineered bio-weapon known as the Genophage on the Krogan. The Krogan population starts its decline.

 **Circa 961 CE**

Llort civilization dawns on Vartas.

 **Circa 1150 CE**

The Krogan Rebellions end, though scattered Krogan insurgent actions continue for decades. The Turians fill the military and peacekeeping niche left by the decimated Krogan.

The Citadel Conventions are drawn up in the wake of the conflict.

 **Circa 1250 CE**

The Turians are granted a seat on the Citadel Council in recognition for their service in the Krogan Rebellions.

 **Circa 1200 CE**

On Centauri Prime, Morell becomes the new Emperor of the Centauri Republic.

In the third year of his reign, Morell puts down an attempted uprising in the Battle of the Scoria Plains.

While returning with his soldiers to the royal palace following his victory at the Scoria Plains, Emperor Morell stops by the river Tuwain to water his dromes and rest his soldiers after the long march from the sea. While there he met Malia, a prophetess who warned Morell that a dagger would strike to his heart from near his heart and that only the crescent moon hidden in darkness would save him. Later, during a great dinner at the Palace, Morell's nephew Elfeni rises to offer a toast and Morell notices his nephew is wearing a brooch shaped like a crescent moon and hidden by the shadow of his arm. Morell calls for the Palace Guard who stop Elfeni just as he draws a blade to assassinate his uncle.

Morell returns to Tuwain and gives the prophetess Malia a tenth share of his fortune and his pledge that for as long as there was an Emperor of the Centauri Republic, there would always be a prophetess of Tuwain held in royal favor, revered and honored as the Prophetess Supreme.

 **Circa 1262 CE**

Emperor Morell commissions the building of an ornate carriage as a gift to his wife Celina. Shortly after she went mad and hanged herself from the highest of the palace's four towers.

On Shir-Shraba, the Hyach pass religious laws making it immoral to intermarry with the Hyach-do.

 **Circa 1400 CE**

Birth of G'Quan on Narn.

Extinction of the Ikarran.

On Centauri Prime, the practice of arranged marriages is introduced to forge alliances between the Houses.

The Minbari achieve interstellar travel.

 **Circa 1412 CE:**

Birth of Jeanne d'Arc in the village of Domrémy in northeastern France on Earth. A mere peasant girl, she will later go on to lead the armies of France against the invading the English, claiming to hear "voices from God". She is eventually captured and executed for heresy, though by the early 20th Century she would be posthumously canonized and declared a holy martyr.

 **Circa 1529 CE**

The starship Qualthaa is shot down near Theta 49 by a Shadow Vessel while carrying a shipment of one thousand slaves from Zander Prime. A few Life Pods survived and made it to the surface where the remaining one hundred former slaves - now stranded with no way of returning home - settled and eventually established a small colony, having been seemingly forgotten by those that had kidnapped them from their homeworld.

On Narn, the Shadows, wary of the Narn telepaths and to protect their base at the planet, kill all of the Narn telepaths, extinguishing the telepath gene from the Narn genome forever.

 **Circa 1530 CE:** The Arrival of Valen

A Minbari not born of Minbari.

As the First Shadow War nears its end, the tide of battle turns against the Minbari with the destruction of their greatest starbase and center for their war efforts. The remaining forces, their leaders dead and their ships damaged are scattered and cut off, unable to find a safe port as all other races had been turned against them and unwilling to return to Minbar for fear of leading the Shadows back to their homeworld.

Jeffrey Sinclair arrives from the future with the Babylon Station, a Human space station built in 2079, and sends a message to Kosh Naranek and Ulkesh Naranek of the Vorlon Empire. The Vorlons arrive first, and using one of the Triluminaries, Sinclair enters a chrysalis, emerging later as a Minbari/Human hybrid. Sending a signal to the Minbari who send a boarding party, they are met by Zathras and are taken to Sinclair who, flanked by two Vorlons, introduces himself as Valen.

The Minbari see Valen and his station as an answer to their prayers and quickly rally around him and adopt the station as their new base. Valen first attempts to unite the Minbari Castes, but they begin to quarrel amongst themselves again, refusing to bend. Valen turns his back on them and creates the Anla'Shok: a new army that recognizes no caste lines and operates outside of the uncooperative castes. They, in turn, call him "Entil'Zha." Shamed by Valen's decisive actions, the Minbari allow him to re-organize them. He calls forth the nine, the first Grey Council consisting of three from each caste; worker, warrior and religious.

Seeking allies, Valen calls many races to his cause, gathering them on Minbar where, just outside of the city of Tuzanor, at the peak of Mount H'Leya, he gives his holy "Times to come" speech, accompanied by a pair of Vorlons. He prophesizes the defeat of the Shadows and that they will return in a thousand years; That the Anla'Shok will arise and be instrumental in that coming war against their ancient enemy, in which the Minbari would unite with the other half of their soul. Among those to witness the event first hand was the Tak'cha Ramde Zarwin who becomes one of Valen's very first non-Minbari followers.

The Tak'cha assault the Yolu of Pa'ri

The Yolu decline to join Valen's cause, choosing to remain neutral. The Tak'cha take it upon themselves to punish them and launch a punitive assault on their homeworld Pa'ri. When word reaches Valen of this atrocity he furiously expels the Tak'cha from the alliance and all Minbari records of their existence - save for those aboard the station - are expunged.

 **Circa 1531 CE**

Slowly the tide of battle turns in the Minbari's favor and the Shadows are eventually driven out of all of their places and into hiding beneath Z'ha'dum where they enter into hibernation. With the war over, Babylon 4 (which the Tak'cha call "Ende X'Ton") is taken in secret to a place of rest to become a monument. Its crew never returned and its fate would remain a mystery for over a thousand hundred years.

Hurr civilization dawns on Androma.

 **Circa 1540 CE**

The Hyach achieve interstellar travel.

 **Circa 1570 CE**

Valen finds and marries Catherine Sakai, the two have several children. Fearing persecution they both leave Minbar with their family.

The Centauri achieve interstellar travel.

 **Circa 1610 CE**

On Earth, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei first of observes what will eventually become known as the moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto in orbit around Jupiter.

 **Circa 1630 CE**

Valen having been forced to leave Minbar passes away aged well over 100 years, though the exact circumstances are a mystery and his body is never found. His children returned to Minbar shortly after.

 **Circa 1670 CE**

Extensive and unchecked industrial expansion on the Drell homeworld Rakhana begins taking a significant toll on the planet's environment.

The Drazi achieve interstellar travel.

 **Circa 1690 CE**

On Shir-Shraba, a Hyach-do wanders into an encampment of Drazi who are collecting Kili grain for the Dark Moon ceremony on Zhabar. The Hyach-do asked to be taken with them but by the terms of their trade contract, the Drazi refused and notified those in charge of harvesting, unaware that it would be exterminated.

 **Circa 1712 CE**

The Hyach-do wiped completely from the Hyach homeland.

 **Circa 1772 - 1789 CE**

On Earth, Italian born mathematician and astronomer Joseph Louis Lagrange discovers the stationary solutions of the circular restricted Three-body problem which become known as the Lagrangian points.

On Earth, the British Thirteen Colonies in North America declare their independence.

On Earth, the French Revolution begins in France.

 **Circa 1861 CE**

On Minbar, the Third Fane of Chudomo is formed and begins serving with honor.

 **Circa 1870 CE**

The first sightings of the Collectors are reported in the Terminus Systems. In Citadel space, the claims are dismissed as unsubstantiated rumors and tall tales.

 **1930 CE**

The Vree achieve interstellar travel.

 **1940s CE**

During Earth's World War II, the Battle of Britain is fought in the skies over Britain. An ancestor of Jeffrey Sinclair serves as a fighter pilot in the battle, beginning a long line of fighter pilots that will continue into the 23rd century.

The city of Coventry in England is destroyed by bombers of the German Luftwaffe, killing 568 civilians in one night. Theories suggest Prime Minister Churchill had advanced warning of the blitz due to the cracking of the German 'Enigma' cypher but chose not to act in order to keep the discovery secret.

 **1950s CE**

After finding a temporary transitway through the Atlanti Crescent, the Vree find Earth and start to abduct Humans for scientific research. Soon, the transitway is naturally closed and the Vree cannot enter the Crescent again.

 **1957 CE**

The first man-made satellite, Sputnik 1, is launched into Earth orbit by the Soviet Union.

 **1961 CE**

 _April 12:_ Yuri Gagarin aboard the Vostok 1 becomes the first human to travel in space. Humanity becomes a spacefaring race.

 **1969 CE**

 _July 20:_ Apollo 11 lands on Luna. Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to walk on Luna, and the first human to walk on an astronomical object other than Earth.

 **1981 CE**

The space shuttle Columbia, the first human reusable spacecraft, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

 **1997 CE**

Sojourner touches down at Ares Vallis becoming the first rover to explore Mars. During its three months of operation, the rover captures more than 550 images of the Red Planet.

 **1998 CE**

Construction of the International Space Station begins in Earth orbit.

 **2000 CE**

The Human astronaut John Crichton disappears during the testing flight of the space module Farscape-1.

 **2015 CE**

SpaceX successfully lands and recovers the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket after delivering 11 communications satellites to orbit. This represents the first-ever orbital class rocket landing and humanity's first major shift towards sustainable space travel.

Ethnic conflicts, especially in the then developed world, gives rise to xenophobic and nationalistic sentiments.

 **2020 CE**

On Earth, the group of university students from all the over the world, known as the Wild Bunch, begins research on self-evolving artificial intelligence. They create the Tron Project, allowing primitive programs to evolve in a path similar to the Human's in a computer at Cambridge University.

 **Circa 2025 CE**

Varn, one of the last of his race is given guardianship of the Great Machine on Epsilon III, put there to hide from a violent group of outcasts determined to claim it as their own.

The Markab achieve interstellar travel.

 **2029 CE**

On Earth, the Tron Project is shut down. However, Corey Morello, a member of the Wild Bunch, transfers the evolving programs to a hidden domain on the Internet to allow them to evolve in peace.

 **2033 CE**

The aggregation of opposing ethnic and religious identitarian movements and xenophobia leads to the various incidents that would be known as the Racial Wars. Non-European populations in Europe and White populations in Africa are a target of attacks and massacres, as well as expulsion from their countries. The Great Massacre of Paris by the xenophobic white supremacist group _Les Fils de Tours_ and the Afrikaner Genocide in South Africa by the anti-white government are some of the most infamous incidents of those years.

The Virtuan civilization dawns on Earth's computer network.

The powerful sublight engine known as the Epstein Drive is invented by Solomon Epstein on Earth. It will enable humanity to travel beyond Earth and the inner planets, and colonize the Asteroid Belt and outer planets.

 **2037 CE**

Lorka VII is settled by a non-indigenous race, who would later claim that they were drawn to the planet by the "The Most Holy".

 **2043 CE:**

The world is divided into two different alliances, the Western Entente comprising the United States, Canada, Brazil, the European countries, Israel, South Korea, and Japan, and the Sino-Russian Alliance, led by China and Russia.

 **2045 CE:** Earth's Third World War

On Earth, World War III breaks out between the Western Entente and the Sino-Russian Alliance

 **2051 CE**

On Earth, World War III ends with the victory of the Western Entente and the death of more than one billion people, mostly in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East

The new technologies developed during the war are used to rebuild the Human society and the victorious nations sign the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro, founding the Terran Republic, with its capital in Geneva.

After seeing so much death, a group known as Immortalists, led by Mohinder Sindh, decide that Humankind's destiny is to overcome mortality and pain. They rely on technology to prolong their lifespans indefinitely. The Immortalists flee Earth the Ark, an Epstein-powered ship.

 **2053 CE**

Armstrong Outpost at Shackleton Crater is formally founded as the first Human settlement on Luna, on the 100th anniversary of the first lunar landing.

First contact between Humans and Virtuans.

 **2059 CE**

The eleven Virtuan city-states unify themselves under the State of Virtua.

Virtua joins the Terran Republic.

 **2069 CE**

The Terran colony of Utopia Planitia is the first Human permanent settlement on Mars. The terraforming of Mars begins.

 **2070 CE**

The Manswell Expedition successfully launches from Earth in route to the Alpha Centauri system with 300 colonists aboard in cryogenic stasis. Communications with the vessel are lost soon after.

 **2077 CE**

On Earth, Humanity is the first known civilization to discover Subspace, a dimensional layer of reality also known as Lower Space that lies in the directly opposite direction from the widely known Hyperspace, also known as Jumpspace or Higher Space. The discovery of Subspace changed dramatically Humanity's understanding of the universe and allowed them to develop quickly through a technological path never seen before and deviate from the mainstream Mass Effect and Jumpspace paths.

The Technological Revolution starts on Earth, with Humans developing technologies never seen before by any known race. The Revolution changes the path of Humanity forever, distancing their technology from the standards of the other races.

The last nation on Earth joins the Terran Republic. For the first time, the whole of Humanity is unified.

 **2080 CE:**

The Immortalists arrive in the Barnard System and colonize an inhabitable planet in the system, calling it Eternia.

The Immortalists start to call themselves Eternals.

Despite its lack of interstellar travel, Humanity is a vibrant interplanetary civilization. However, despite the entire Sol System being under the Terran authority, cracks start to show.

 **2094 CE:**

Babylon 4, the last of the pre-warp Babylon stations, disappears suddenly after completion in the Jupiter Station.

 **2098 CE:** Humanity's First Warp Flight

Humanity achieves interstellar travel.

The Humans are the first known civilization to develop warp drive. The Terran Unified Space Agency launches the first warp-capable ship, Phoenix, capable of reaching Alpha Centauri in eighteen days, or twenty times the speed of light.

 **2103 CE**

Humanity re-establishes contact with the Eternals after reaching the Barnard System.

The development of the Synthesizer technology, ancestor of the Replication technology, revolutionizes Human economy and space travel.

As warp becomes more and more common, Humanity's ship design start to shift to accommodate this new technology. The earlier pre-warp ships that traveled between the Sol colonies, bulky and heavy, are gradually replaced by the new designs with their saucer sections, deflector dishes, and warp nacelles.

 **2105 CE**

Samara's three daughters are diagnosed as Ardat-Yakshi. Rila and Falere accept exile, but Morinth flees. Samara takes the oaths of the Asari justicars and pursues her errant daughter for the next 430 years.

A group of people influenced by the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien colonizes a spring-weathered planet at the Anor System, calling it Valinor. They found the city of Númenor and make Quenya and Sindarin (Tolkien's Elvish languages) the official languages of Valinor.

 **2109 CE**

The Terran colony of Asgard is founded.

 **2112 CE**

Humanity develops Teleporter technology and the manipulation of graviton particles to generate artificial gravity.

Humanity achieves Warp 4.

Humanity founds Proxima Colony, at Alpha Centauri System.

 **2125 CE**

With nanotechnology, teleporters, and synthesizers, Humanity begins to terraform Venus.

 **2131 CE**

The Yolu civilization stabilizes.

 **2141 CE**

The Minbari Grey Council stop using chairs in their viewing rooms.

 **2139 CE**

The First Amendment to the Terran Republic's Constitution gives to all Terran colonies right of representation at the Terran Senate. However, the tensions continue, as the colonies, which are by than lightly populated when compared to Earth, are represented as equals to Earth's nation-states, instead of equal planets to Earth.

 **2151 CE**

The terraforming of Mars and Venus is completed. Mars becomes a planet with a mostly European-like climate and Venus a tropical planet with jungles and beautiful beaches.

Humanity's first contact with an alien race, the Éonns. A peaceful contact, the Éonns tell Humanity about the old Atlanti and the history beyond the Human known space.

Knowing of the threats beyond the Atlanti Crescent, the Humans decide for developing their technology and colonizing the planets inside the Crescent as much as they can before going to contact the races beyond it.

 **2178 CE**

Humanity achieves Warp 5.

 **2230 CE**

Aria T'Loak arrives on Omega, a space station in the Terminus Systems regarded as the region's nominal capital. Aria is hired by the station's warlord as an enforcer and quickly becomes one of his most trusted lieutenants.

 **2245 CE:** The Geth War

The Geth, machines created by the Quarians as a source of cheap labor, become self-aware. Fearing a Geth uprising, the Quarians begin dismantling them. The Geth revolt against their Quarian masters. In the resulting conflict, known to the Geth as the Morning War, the Geth systematically drive the Quarians from their own worlds. The surviving Quarians are reduced to living as spacefaring nomads aboard the Migrant Fleet. Contrary to expectations, the Geth do not venture outside the former Quarian systems into wider Citadel space, instead of isolating themselves from the rest of the galaxy behind the Perseus Veil. As punishment for creating the Geth, the Citadel Council closes the Quarian embassy on the Citadel, turning them into a pariah race.

 **2271 CE**

The Geth begin construction of a mega-structure designed to house and simultaneously run every Geth program in existence. Completion of the mega-structure, which would allow the Geth to maximize their collective processing capacity, is the long-term goal of Geth civilization.

 **2299 CE**

On Centauri Prime, the Emperor's daughter spots the first flower of spring poking up through the snow in the Royal Gardens. She orders that a Guard is to stand over the spot to protect it. The Princess soon forgets about it and the order is not countermanded until 270 years later.

 **2300 CE:** Founding of the United Systems Federation

After two hundred years of colonization, the larger colonies of the Terran Republic seek for a change. They want to become independent from the Terran Republic and create a new state of federated planets.

After protests throughout the Human space and some skirmishes between Earth and its colonies, Earth, Mars, Venus, Proxima, Valinor, Asgard, and Nova Prime sign the Treaty of Equals, founding the United Systems Federation and elaborating the USF Constitution. The Éonns are asked to join too, but they politely refuse.

Humanity had restored Earth's environment.

 **2329 CE**

On Gromahr, civil war results in the release of a genetic plague. Though the Grome overcome the plague's lethal effects, it will cause each generation of females to grow less and less fertile and give succeeding generation's skin a pitted, somewhat diseased look.

On Brakir, the arrival of the Brakiri system's only comet heralds the Day of the Dead. Many strange stories are told of that night and the comet doesn't return for another 200 years.

 **2330 CE**

Aria T'Loak assumes control of Omega after defeating the space station's previous warlord in single combat. She mockingly bestows the title "Patriarch" on the broken Krogan, and uses him as a reminder to her enemies of her power.

 **2350-2355 CE**

The Drell make first contact with the Hanar around this time. With their homeworld Rakhana severely depleted and no spaceflight capability, the Drell were poised for a massive population crash by 2025 CE. Agreeing to help, the Hanar mount a large-scale rescue operation and evacuate approximately 375,000 Drell to their own homeworld, Kahje, over the following decade. The remaining 11 billion Drell on Rakhana gradually perish, warring over the last reserves of food and water.

 **2355 CE**

Humanity achieves warp 9.

 **2359 CE**

Humanity is at a golden age of colonization, scientific development, and material abundance. They develop the Neural-Interfaces that connect them to their technology and databanks.

By merging Teleportation and Synthesizer technology, Humanity creates the Replicators. Capable of creating any material at the sub-atomic level, replicators revolutionize the Human economy, once more. The ability to create new particles and new materials that do not exist naturally is a great advantage to Humanity. They create hard metals like Duranium, Tritanium and Transparinum, as well as artificial particles like Nadions, used on phasers, and even antimatter.

Humanity learns how to use antimatter as a powerful energy source. Antinopism becomes definitely Humanity's economic system, making of the Human planets social paradises.

 **2360 CE**

The Narn achieve interstellar travel.

 **2379 CE**

The Centauri Republic invades the Narn Homeworld. Initially welcomed by the Narns with open arms, the Centauri quickly take advantage of the technological superiority to enslave the population and begin strip-mining the planet's resources, which will slowly turn the green and verdant world into a dry, red, dust ravaged planet.

 **2380 CE**

The Centauri conquer Ragesh III from the Narn. It was the only other world colonized by the Narn alongside Hylak IV

 **2382 CE**

The Brakiri achieve interstellar travel.

The Minbari Federation sends the first of twelve expeditions into Vorlon space. None return.

 **2427 CE**

Liara T'Soni is born.

 **2475 CE**

The Yahg, an intelligent pre-spaceflight race, is discovered on the planet Parnack. Ambassadors representing the Citadel Council arrive on the planet and attempt to open diplomatic contact. After the ambassadors are killed by the predatory Yahg, the Council ceases all contact with the Yahg and declares Parnack off-limits.

Not long after the Yahg are discovered, one Yahg is captured for the Shadow Broker to study. With the Broker's assistance, the Yahg rapidly ascends within the Broker's organization as "Operative Kechlu". Eventually, the Broker becomes wary of "Operative Kechlu" and attempts to have him terminated, but the order is sent too late. The Yahg assumes the mantle of the Shadow Broker and directs the organization for the next sixty years.

 **2431 CE**

The Llort achieve interstellar travel.

 **2448 CE**

The Brakiri establish a colony on Kara, the second planet in the Brakiri System.

 **2456 CE**

The Hurr achieve interstellar travel.

The Pak'ma'ra achieve interstellar travel

 **2461 CE**

The Grome achieve interstellar travel.

Using Centauri technology, the Narns build their first spaceships.

The Narn achieve interstellar travel.

 **2466 CE**

To discourage a rebellion by the Narns, the Centauri bomb seven of their major cities for six straight days, thirty-one hours a day. As a result, the Narn spend their days in underground bomb shelters, praying, sleeping, eating and singing songs together.

 **2477 CE**

A concerted effort by the Centauri almost crushes the Narn Resistance.

 **2483 CE**

After 100 Narn years, the Centauri Occupation of Narn ends. The Centauri leave behind some of their weaponry which the Narn dismantle and duplicate.

 **2499 CE**

The Drazi Freehold acquire Centauri power and drive technology from the Narn Regime which they begin retrofitting into a few select Sun-Hawks. The Drazi Freehold upgrade the Sun-Hawks by adding a ship-portable particle beam weapon to complement the standard issue plasma cannons.

 **2433 CE**

Humanity achieves Warp 9.8.

 **2498 CE:** Human Exploration

In the anniversary of four hundred years since the first warp flight, Humanity explores the outside the Atlanti Crescent for the first time.

Starfleet sends an expedition of two Excelsior-class starships, four Saber-class and one Galaxy-class to explore and make contact with the races of the Vorlon Circle.

First contact between Humanity and other races such as the Vree, the Centauri, the Narn, the Dilgar, the Abbai, the Drazi and the Brakiri. Humanity is surprised by the fact that the Vree are the aliens that abducted Humans in the 20th century and the Vree are surprised by the Human advancement.

First contact with the Ch'lonas and the Koulani. At first, the Ch'lonas attack the Human expedition to steal their technology. The Battle of Ch'lon is the first fight between Humans and aliens, twelve Ch'lonas ships are destroyed before the Human expedition, intact, leaves the system.

The contact between Humanity and the Centauri surprises both, as they are very similar. Initially, the Centauri claim they are a "huge empire" claiming they run the entire galaxy, though this is later found to be a gross exaggeration. They also claim that Earth is a lost Centauri colony, making Humanity distant relatives. However, the Humans had already scanned the Centauri ships and their crew, being quick to know that, cosmetic appearances aside, the two species are not even remotely related. The Centauri would later claim they made a clerical error, mistaking Earth for "Beta 9" when in fact it was "Beta 12".

The Centauri are surprised with the technological advancement of such a young race and try to buy some technologies, but the Humans refuse. Having become a declining, decadent culture, the Centauri find themselves fascinated by the abundance of Human art, trinkets and eccentricity and Centauri Prime sign a number of trade agreements with Earth.

All races the Humans find are surprised that Humans do not use Jumpspace like everybody else, but a technology that allows faster-than-light speeds at common space, what they thought impossible.

 **2505 CE**

Humanity starts to colonize star systems beyond the Atlanti Crescent. Diplomatic relations with the Centauri Republic sour as the USF begins to colonize close to the Centauri border.

Trace amounts of element zero are discovered on Mordor, a volcanic planet in the Anor System.

 **2510:** The Immortalist Delusion

The levels of depression among the Eternals are higher than in any Human population. To them, while all natural causes of death were prevented, a hunger for meaning gave rise in death rates among the Eternal population in the form of violence, suicide or the so-called "fading". The latter, the worst way to die for them. The emptiness and lack of reason and meaning made many Eternals simply "shut off", become prisoners in their own minds, stuck in an endless melancholy and meaninglessness that ended by killing them, despite their immortality. After more than four centuries of life without concerns or aging, the Eternals took their final act. In a single act of desperation, the Eternals give to their lives a reason. In July 1st, 2510, the entire Eternal population of 81 million took their own lives, going to the embrace of Death.

The Immortalist Delusion was made an example to Humanity, to remember them that existence only has meaning if it has an end. Immortalism became taboo and, to modern Humans, a lifespan of 200 years is considered more than enough.

 **2514 CE:** Dilgar War

Emperor Turhan rises to the throne of the Centauri Republic.

Centauri Prime's first permanent Ambassador to the United Systems Federation is chosen.

After allying themselves under the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, the minor races are attacked by the Dilgar.

The Human-Narn relations improve as the USF starts to use its terraforming technology to repair the damage to the Narn homeworld caused by the Centauri.

 **2515 CE:**

The Dilgar bombarded and occupied several League worlds. With no capability of stopping the Dilgar, the League asks for help from the Centauri, the Minbari and the new players, the Humans. Only the Humans provide help.

Jha'dur, the Dilgar war criminal known as "Deathwalker," is responsible for the destruction of planets Tirolus, Comac IV, and Halax.

The USF starts to research under the possibility of traveling at warp in Jumpspace to reach higher speeds.

 **2515-2516 CE:**

Starfleet sends a fleet of two hundred ships to help the League and, due to their extremely advanced weapons and defense technology, they push the Dilgar back to their home system, while the last Dilgar fleet is destroyed at the Battle of Balos. Knowing that the Dilgar sun will go supernova in the next years, the USF decides to save the Dilgar people.

Humanity modifies their subspace sensors to scan Jumpspace from normal space.

Despite the protests of the League races, the USF saves the Dilgar race by transplanting them to a new world called New Omelos, which is constantly watched by Starfleet. The Dilgar become a protectorate of the USF.

The Dilgar criminals of war, being the Warmaster Jha'Dur the most notable, are judged by a USF court with representatives from all League races. Jha'Dur is condemned to perpetual prison at Erebus, the USF prison planet.

Londo Mollari of the Centauri Republic is assigned as a liaison with the United Systems Federation.

At Anor System, the same system where the planet Valinor is, the modified sensors detect a huge structure inside Jumpspace close to the planet Mordor in the same system. Humanity discovers it is a Mass Relay.

Once taken from Jumpspace and activated, Captain Lucas Monteiro of the USS Tupan leads the first team of explorers through the Mordor Relay, which instantaneously transports them to another relay in the Utopia System, in the Exodus Cluster. The explorers confirm that the Mass Relays are part of a vast network, making travel across the galaxy possible.

Saren Arterius becomes the youngest Turian to be inducted into the Spectres.

 **2517 CE:** Human-Minbari Contact

The Minbari, a race that had refused all attempts of contact by the Humans, send an expedition to Z'ha'dum to see if the Shadows are returning or not.

The Bellerophon-class starship USS Saxony is testing on the concept of warp-in-jumpspace when an accident damages the ship in the Z'ha'dum system.

At Z'ha'dum, the Minbari find a Human ship, the USS Saxony. The Minbari, who think of themselves as the oldest and most advanced of the younger races, become concerned as they realize that they cannot scan the alien ship. Satai Delenn recognizes the ship as Human. The Saxony starts to release powerful gravitonic bursts that damage the Valen'Tha, the ship that holds the Grey Council, killing the Minbari leader, Dukhat. The Grey Council orders the Saxony's destruction.

The Saxony, at the time, had no communication systems, as it was fried out. The Minbari attack was repelled by the Saxony's shields. The Saxony responded by firing at one of the Minbari ships, the Valen'Tha. The Minbari are terrified by the fact that the Human ship could lock into their ships, as only the Shadows' servants could lock passing the Minbari stealth systems.

All Minbari ships to attack the Saxony but it retaliates and runs to warp, surprising the Minbari.

The Minbari declare war on the Humans.

The Minbari refuses do not answer the Human attempts at negotiating peace.

 **2518 CE**

The Minbari are defeated at the Battle of Jericho

John Sheridan, commanding the USS Lexington, destroys the Black Star, the Minbari flagship, and her sorrounding flotilla in Minbari space. That was the first time in a thousand years that the Minbari were defeated within their territory. For this, Sheridan is called _Starkiller_ by the Minbari.

The Minbari occupy the Sinzar system after the First Battle of Sinzar.

The Human squadron leader Jeffrey Sinclair's fighter is knocked out. Sinclair is captured by the Minbari, yet his fighter initiates self-destruction protocols. Sinclair is interrogated at the Valen'Tha, were the Minbari learn that Humans are immune to telepathy and of Sinclair's relation with Valen.

The sun of Omelos, the Dilgar homeworld, goes nova. The Dilgar settle definitively on New Omelos.

The Minbari are defeated at the Second Battle of Sinzar.

The Minbari surrender. The Human-Minbari War ends.

The Minbari and the Humans formulate the Babylon Project.

 **2520 CE**

Humanity starts to colonize the Exodus Cluster, beginning with Eden Prime, at Utopia System.

To defend its expanding territory, Humanity begins constructing a large defensive space station at Utopia, the nexus of several key Mass Relays, even though they have yet to encounter another Mass Effect-using race.

 **2527 CE:** Babylon 5 Age

Starbase Babylon 5 is opened and inaugurated in August. It is a Yorktown-class space station, a space station on neutral territory where all races of the region could solve their problems diplomatically. The United Systems Federation, the Minbari Federation, the Centauri Republic and the Narn Regime sign the Treaty of Babylon, being followed in the next years by the League of Non-Alligned Worlds.


	2. Codex Entry: United Systems Federation

**A/N: This is a Mass Effect/Babylon 5 universe I made featuring Humanity with Star Trek-ish technology as well as a Stargate-ish precursor race. I don't know if I'm capable of writing a good story about this as I'm way more into developing a universe and its history than an actual narrative. If anyone wants to write a story out of this, just contact me. I'd be glad to show you all the technical and historical information I created.**

* * *

 **Codex Entry: United Systems Federation**

 **United Systems Federation**

 **Capital:** Earth, Sol System, Sector 001, United Systems Federation Space  
 **Foundation:** March 13, 2300  
 **Races:** Humans, Virtuans  
 **Leader:** President of the United Systems Federation  
 **Form of Government:** Federal Presidential Constitutional Republic  
 **Governing Body:** USF Parliament  
 **Military:** Starfleet, Planetary Defense Forces (PDFs)  
 **Economic System:** Energy-based Nonpaucitism  
 **Population (2540) :** 122,323,500,000  
 **Currency:** Energy Credit  
 **Lingua Franca:** USF Standard (English)  
 **Technology:** Subspace-based / Tier 1

The **United Systems Federation** , abbreviated as **USF** and usually referred as the **United Systems** by the Circle races and as the **Systems Federation** or just the **Federation** by the Mass Effect races, is an interstellar democratic republic made up by the federated union of Humanity's main planetary governments (Member-Planets) and their colonies, being founded by Humanity and their synthetic "children", the Virtuans.

 **Structure**

Despite being founded in 2300 by Earth, Mars, Venus, Proxima, Asgard, Valinor and Nova Prime, by 2535, the USF was formed by 27 Member-Planets, all of them with more than five hundred million inhabitants, and thousands of colonies, outposts and space stations. These latter ones are tied, each one, with a Member-Planet, being part of its government and as well represented by said member-planets' representatives at the Parliament. It is notable that Human colonization is incredibly versatile, as they have colonized the most diverse worlds, asteroids and the void of space, building habitats, space stations, domed cities, overcoming obstacles other races are not so inclined to go against. Because of that, and Human long isolation at the Atlanti Crescent, the core Human space (concentrating about 89% of the USF's population) is the most densely inhabited region in the known galaxy.

The USF capital-planet is Earth. The USF Parliament, its legislature, is held in the Palais d'Union, in Paris, France. Starfleet Headquarters, as well as Starfleet Academy, is in San Francisco, United States of America. The USF Supreme Court is located in the Hague, Netherlands.

 **Society and Economy**

The USF was the first stellar government to have a consulate instead of an embassy at the Citadel, not recognizing the supra-national authority of the Citadel Council and actually being the consulate-type representation created in order to allow diplomatic ties with the USF. Afterward, the Centauri Republic, the Minbari Federation, and many governments of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds received similar representations.

The USF has the highest standard of living and social standards of all the governments in the known galaxy. Human economy is post-capitalistic in nature. Due to its advanced technology and economic system, an energy-based postinopism*, the USF worlds and other territories have no such thing as famine, scarcity, war and crime. Replication and advanced energy production give the USF an advantage that no other government has, allowing even the smallest colonies and outposts to be self-sufficient.

While most other races in the galaxy have followed one of the traditional technological paths bequeathed by the older races, the much more versatile Mass Effect-based path or the much more variable Jumpspace-based path, Humanity is the only known race to follow a Subspace-based path. Being the first race to discover Subspace and its properties, and still having knowledge about it orders of magnitude beyond any other race, Humanity achieved great technological prowess in a short amount of time. Technologies such as Teleporters, Replicators, Subspace sensors and communication, and Warp Drive are commonplace within Human space, though not in the rest of the galaxy.

 **Military**

Starfleet is the USF's exploration and defense branch, its military. It has one of the biggest fleets in the entire known space, with more than 30,000 starships. However, most Starfleet ships are multi-task, being scientific laboratories, exploration vessels, and warships at the same time. Starfleet is unique compared to the militaries of the other powers because of its greater focus on exploration, non-military scientific research, and diplomacy. The USF also has the more regional Planetary Defense Forces (PDFs), each one responsible for the defense and patrolling of a member-planets territory. The PDFs show their own command chain, though they are all under Starfleet authority. Of the 27 member-Planets, only 8 keep a PDF. Some PDFs, such as the Asgardian Navy and the Valinoran Defense Force, prefer to design their own ships based on their own cultural standards.

The Citadel Council regards the USF as a "sleeping giant" as only about 0.4% of the USF's population (about 489.3 million people) serve in Starfleet and the Planetary Defense Forces.

 **Membership**

In the United Systems Federation, membership depends only on population. Every planet in the USF stays under the authority of a Member-Planet until it reaches a certain population.

 **Protected-Planets**

The Protected-Planets are a provision of the USF Constitution. It states that any planet within the USF territory discovered to have sentient life must be put under this provision. Protected-Planets are sentient life reservations protected by the USF to ensure the undisturbed development of a pre-stellar civilization. Though the USF and research institutions may engage studies on these planets, they are prohibited from interfering in their societies except to prevent mass extinction.

According to the Constitution, the USF is expected to recognize the entire star system the protected species live in as their sovereign territory when they achieve interplanetary travel and to make contact when they achieve interstellar travel. The USF will provide a space lane through USF territory to allow the new interstellar civilization contact with the wider galaxy.

By 2535, there were 4 sentient species under the protection of the USF: The humanoid Na'vi from Pandora and Veelani from Veranasi, the delphinoid Malsans from Malsa, and the reptilian Drogons from Dherakarr.

The most unique of all those planets, Pandora, is studied by the USF for its planet-wide natural neural network formed by the planet's plant life and its animal life's ability to connect to it.

 **Member-Planets**

By 2535, the United Systems Federation had 27 member-planets, 3,122 colony-worlds, and dozens of thousands of space stations and outposts. Each member-planet government rules over a certain number of colonies and space stations, both considered integral parts of said member-planet. The member-planets and their respective capital cities are:

\- Earth (Terran Republic) - Geneva  
\- Mars (United Colonies of Mars) - Tharsis  
\- Venus (Venusian Parliamentary Republic) - Aphrodisia  
\- Proxima (Republic of Proxima) - Santos  
\- Valinor (Valinoran Fellowship) - Númenor  
\- Asgard (Kingdom of Asgard) - Valhalla  
\- Nova Prime (Novan Ecumene) - Nova City  
\- Adanna (Adannan Federation) - Wakanda  
\- Thermidor (United Thermidoran Nations) - Lacoste  
\- Gliese (United Kingdom of Gliese and Selene) - New Boston  
\- Lyra (Lyrian Union) - Concordia  
\- Eldaron (Kingdom of Eldar) - Eldaristad  
\- Cortesa (Cortesian Constitution) - Proença  
\- Axanar (United States of Axanar) - Montepillar  
\- Sirius (Democratic Republic of Sirius) - Lycaon  
\- Beowulf (Beowulvian Council) - Stjerneborg  
\- Altair (United Nations of Altair) - Alnajim  
\- Arcturus III (Arcturan Assembly) - New Philadelphia  
\- Heian (United Planet of Heian) - Yamato  
\- Aquaria (Federated City-States of Aquaria) - Nácar  
\- Rohan (Rohani State) - Amaravati  
\- Xiangbala (Federal Republic of Xiangbala) - Hóngxīng  
\- Draconis (Draconian Freehold) - Hesperidia  
\- Celestis (Free Celestian Federation) - Aeolia  
\- Atmos (Atmosian Council of Lands) - Starshire  
\- Andros (Androsian Federative Republic) - Navidad  
\- Starhaven (Starhaven Free State) - Harvest

* * *

 ***(Latim: _Post_ , after, _inopia_ , poverty, lack, scarcity)  
**

Hóngxīng / 红星  
Heian / 兵庵

Eldaron, founded by the Swedish explorer Eldar Larson, the first King of Eldar and founder of the House of Eldaron. The name of the planet and of its royal house comes from Swedish, _Eldar Ön_ or _Eldar Island_. The planet is poetically referred as an _island among the stars_ and the home of the Eldar people.


	3. Codex Entry: USF's Economy

**A/N: This Codex Entry tries to explain my vision of the USF's economy. However, I'm not an economist. I like it, but I'm no expert in it. So, probably, the economic system described may be unrealistic or, even, totally impractical. So, any feedback, I'd be glad.**

* * *

 **Codex Entry: USF's Economy**

While most Mass Effect races rely on some variation of the financial capitalist system and the Circle races present many different systems, the United Systems Federation developed a unique economic system, Energy-based Nonpaucitism. Nonpaucitism is a term created in the 23rd century used to define a post-scarcity economy. In nonpaucitist economies, the wide majority of goods are so abundant that they can be afforded for almost nothing or for free. In the case of the USF's economy, it is an energetic nonpaucitist economy, where technology allows almost everything to be created given the right amount of energy.

With replication and other technologies, Humanity achieved a level of wealth never seen before by any race, an economic system where almost anything can be made given the right amount of energy. In this economic system, money is nothing more than " _the right to use a certain amount of energy_ ". With fusion, antimatter and the more recent zero-point reactor technology, the USF produces enough energy to give all its citizens a very comfortable life.

The USF economy works through a Universal Basic Income system. The government counts its citizens' and institutions' right to use energy in the form of Energy Credits, the USF currency. Each citizen has right over an equal amount of energy credits. That alone could give anyone an abundant life. However, the USF citizens and public and private institutions can engage in monetary transactions through the Replication Network as well as in exchange their credits for the so-called Commodities. Basically, it is a virtually egalitarian society, as everyone has right over the same amount of "money", but inequality, not in a bad way, comes when people exchange their credits for replicable goods or things like an architect's project, a painter's canvas, or the service of a fashion consultant. Said professionals do not do what they do for money alone, but for the love for their "arts". It is a society of artists, scientists and teachers who do what they do for love, and politicians and soldiers who do what they do for their sense of duty. By the standards of, say, the 20th and 21st centuries, it is a utopia with no war, no poverty, and no marginalization. It has flaws, outsiders, and critics, but it is true that the USF territories, even the outer and smaller colonies, have achieved the highest standard of living of the known space.

Because of that, the USF economy is not, at least not entirely, driven by money. People and organizations who have more money do not have more influence over political institutions than the average citizen. Private economic organizations such as corporations and companies still exist, their role is to provide services of all kinds and creative products. However, the 26th century Human companies are much more like well structured "associations of professionals" than a structure of owner-employees. For example, media corporations like the Interstellar News Network (ISN) are made of people who do what they do for the love of doing it: reporters, photographers, editors, etc. Some of other famous Human corporations are the passenger carrier Asgardian Starlines (Astar), the entertainment corporation Walt Disney Company, and the car designing company Raiden Motors.

In the USF's nonpaucitist economy, there are some goods that, can be said, "worth money", the so-called Scarce Goods or Commodities: energy itself, land or space, work and creative products.

 **Energy** – As money is "the right to use energy", energy itself is considered a commodity, even if it is actually quite abundant and technological advancements make it always more and more easy to produce. Energy is used to afford anything, from replicable goods to non-replicable goods.

 **Land/Space** – Land and space cannot be replicated and, while it is quite abundant and can be afforded by colonizing more planets and building more space stations, not everyone can live everywhere they want. Some people would like to live near a beach or a mountain, some would like to live in Paris, some in Rio de Janeiro and some in Rivendell. Because of that, even if the social and economic benefits do not change depending on the region one lives in the USF, land and space are commodities.

 **Work** – While automation and replication allow for goods being produced without Human intervention, the service of people like artists, scientists, designers, reporters, and engineers cannot be (and should not be) automated. Because of that, work is a commodity.

 **Creative products** – While a famous painting like the Mona Lisa can be replicated in a copy exactly the same as the original, only one was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci himself. Art is scarce, talent is scarce. One cannot replicate ideas, not an original book without some writer to create the story, not an original wedding dress without some stylist to draw it. People make reputations from their work and its products. Creative products include non-replicated replicable goods, such as grown vegetables or a ratatouille made by the hands of a famous chef. Plus, life and life forms, in general, are part of this category of commodities. One cannot replicate a dead husband or a living cow. One can replicate a working limb to use or a slice of steak, but not the whole living organism (though a whole non-living organism can be replicated). Some people like to grow their vegetables or kill the chicken right to cook it.

* * *

The government agency responsible for regulating commercial transactions between USF citizens and institutions is the Monetary Authority, under the authority of the USF Ministry of Finance and Energy.

The Monetary Authority maintains the accounts of all USF citizens and juridical persons (government agencies, companies, etc). It also maintains the domain in Starnet (successor to the old Earth Internet) through which all monetary transactions are made. As all Human replicators and computers are connected to the Starnet through a layer of subspace which signal is boosted to the entirety of the galaxy by Memory Alpha (to more information, see the _Memory Alpha_ section in the _USF Technology_ page).

Much of the USF economy is based on intellectual property. Any citizen or company can invent anything, be it a food recipe, a clothing design, a vehicle design, machinery, anything. To the inventor is owed an amount of 5% the value of the replicated product, energy value. For example, if a person invents a pumpkin pie recipe and upload the pie's replication pattern into the Starnet Replication Network, everytime a person replicates said pumpkin pie, it's cost will be added 5% which will be credited to the inventor's account. However, the 5% copyright is counted based on the energy-only value. For example, if it costs 100 energy credits to replicate said pie directly from energy, the pie will cost 105 credits at the replicator, 5 credits being credited to the inventor. If one decides to replicate the pie from pre-existing matter, it would be required 50 energy credits to replicate, but it would cost 55 credits at the replicator.

The replication copyright extends to the finished good only. One wouldn't be charged in credits by replicating the ingredients and making the pie himself. The copyrights is an efficient way of distributing wealth and making commercial transactions, as well as maintaining a high level of innovation. The Replication Database is infinitely diverse and is always growing. The same dish or piece of clothing or vehicle can be found in millions of different recipes or designs.

Some products, however, are public domain. Standard fruits and vegetables, raw meat, raw materials, and products which had the copyright expired. The copyrights are personal and, though they can be sold, they can't be inherited. When the inventor dies, their invention becomes public domain.


	4. Codex Entry: Technological Paths

**A/N: Just some information about the Human technology. It is based on Star Trek's Federation technology, not only aesthetically, but chronologically too. So the Human technology level corresponds loosely to the Federation technology of the same year. In this universe's year of 2262, the USF had TOS era tech, in 2365, TNG era, and so on. The story starts in 2498, way beyond the most advanced Star Trek era I know, Star Trek Online (which I play, by the way), so expect the USF to have technology from STO and more as granted.**

* * *

 **Codex Entry: Technological Paths**

All races in the known space have followed one of three technological paths, most by the influence of older races. In the Mass Effect Space, the artifacts left by the old Protheans (though some groups theorize an older race) were the base to the technological development of the races of this region. In the Circle Space, the influence of older races known as First Ones led the way to the region's development. On the other hand, the Humans, isolated in the Atlanti Crescent, developed in a way different from the other two standard paths.

 **Jumpspace**

Jumpspace-based technology is the standard technological path of the Circle's races. It is based mainly on the study of Hyperspace, also known as Jumpspace or Higher Space, as well as the manipulation of tachyon particles.  
Though grouped as a single path, isolationism and the great diversity of the Hyperspatial studies resulted in the development of a wide variety of sub-paths of Jumpspace-based technology within the Circle Space. Minbari technology is crystalline and largely based on Gravimetry, Vorlon technology is organic, Gaim technology is mostly made of genetically modified drones. At their core, however, all Jumpspace-based technologies follow the same rules and explore the same concepts. It also is notable that the technological disparity between the races in the Circle Space is astonishingly wide compared to the Mass Effect Space. Younger races such as the Llort are no match for the advanced technologies of older ones such as the Centauri and the Minbari, and the disparity is so wide that most of the Circle's races don't know how to create artificial gravity (differently from Mass Effect-based artificial gravity, a deep knowledge is required to create gravitational fields, a capacity that only the older races have). Jumpspace-based technology favors energy weapons but is quite weak against kinetic weapons.

Like the Mass Effect races with Mass Relays, the Circle's races are all dependent on Jumpgates in a certain level, though new Jumpgates can be built with relative ease. Jumpgates are so important to interstellar travel within the Circle Space, that destroying one is a huge taboo. Not even the most barbaric races in the most dire situations would do such thing.

 **Mass Effect**

Mass Effect-based technology is the standard technological path of the Mass Effect races. It is based mainly on element zero (eezo) and Mass Relays. Until the discovery of Humanity and the Circle's races, Mass Effect was considered the only way to build a sustainable interstellar civilization. Mass Effect technology was first discovered by the Asari from Prothean ruins. Being simple to understand and replicate, extremally versatile in its uses and with its pre-existent network of Mass Relays, Mass Effect technology tends to replace quickly the previous technology of the races that discover it. However, besides all of those benefits, Mass Effect-based tech have some weaknesses compared to the other paths such as its extreme dependency on a rare mineral, element zero (though Jumpspace-based technology is almost as dependent of Quantium-40). Mass Effect technology is rather lacking in the field of energy weapons and FTL communication and sensors. Also, Mass Effect-based technology shows not much variation between different races, though the level gap between the Asari and the Batarians are somewhat wide, their technology is not so different. Although, this lack of diversity may have been caused by the great level of economic and social integration between the Mass Effect races.

 **Subspace**

Subspace-based technology is the unique technological path of Humanity. It is based mainly on the study of Subspace, also known as Lower Space. Subspace is the direct dimensional opposite of Hyperspace, both separated by our dimensional layer of reality, Commonspace. While all races on the Circle Space followed the path of exploring Hyperspace, Humans deviated from this path with the discovery of Subspace in 2077 TCE (Terran Common Era). This discovery enlarged Humanity's knowledge of physics very quickly and started the Human Technological Revolution. Within the next centuries, Humanity developed new and unique technologies such as the Warp Drive, Teleporters and Replicators. Subspace allowed for powerful scanning technology, capable of scanning at the atomic level and at FTL speeds. One of the main aspects of Human Subspace-based technology is its abundance of artificial elements. Metals such as Duranium, Tritanium and Transparinum, and particles such as Nadions doesn't exist in nature, but are used by Humans in their ships and technology. Natural particles such as Tetryons, found in Subspace, are used too. Subspace-based scanners are extremely accurate to the standard of other races, capable of gathering information that is undetectable otherwise. Subspace allowed Humanity to "see" the universe more deeply, accelerating the Human development at speeds never seen before. Many natural elements and phenomena, such as Chroniton particles, can only be detected through Subspace sensors, thus giving Humanity a great advantage. That is why, within only 450 years of interstellar travel capability, Humans reached a level never seen before and is regarded by the Circle's races as "First One-like" in technology.


	5. Codex Entry: First Ones

**A/N: (A/N: Some notifications: Before new updates, I'll revise the previous chapters. English is not my first language and I noticed many errors. Second, all Codex pages will have information from the Mass Effect races' point of view, so, many information, such as the nature of the Leviathans,** **will be omitted, as the USF and other governments don't give the Council the whole information. I also won't post the information we already know about races such as the Vorlons, but fill the gaps with my own ideas.)**

 **A/N: I just revised all chapters, as well as changed some things and added others. So, ok, now I think I'll try to truly write a narrative.**

* * *

 **Codex Entry: First Ones**

The First Ones are a group of ancient races that achieved sentience millions to billions of years before any of the "Younger Races" such as the Humans, the Minbari, the Asari, the Salarians and even the Protheans (the oldest Mass Effect-using race we know of). Extremely advanced, annoyingly condescending, some First Ones saw the rise and fall of civilizations, guiding some of them through the path they see fit, others chose to isolate from the younger races, and others, to travel beyond The Rim, to never be seen again.

The following information about the most well known First Ones are organized by age, the oldest race to the youngest:

 **The Firstborn**

 **Scientific designation*:** _Primoris prognatus_ **  
Homeworld:** Unknown **  
Achieved interstellar travel:** Approx. 7 billion BCE **  
Lifespan:** Immortal **  
Life-form type:** Unknown, Bipedal Humanoids (appearance) **  
Government:** None  
 **Transcendence:** Semi-Transcendent (Psionic)  
 **Title:** The First Ones

Not much is known of the Firstborn. Allegedly, they were the first race to evolve in the galaxy and Lórien, the only remaining Firstborn, the first among the Firstborn themselves. They were humanoids born naturally immortal, never aging though still susceptible to death by injury or illness. They developed a peaceful advanced civilization and eventually left their homeworld to explore the galaxy. In their travels, they visited countless worlds and found many infant races. They acted as teachers and guardians before eventually stepping aside and allowing them to make their own paths, creating great empires, exploring and founding even younger races to whom they became teachers and guardians. Eventually, all Firstborns died out, only Lórien remains, the figure of highest standing among the First Ones, powerful, respected by the older races as no other. Lorien eventually withdrew and dwelt deep beneath the planet that would become known as Z'ha'dum. He would remain there for a million years, but never forgotten by those he had taught. The Shadows, in their endless series of conflicts, would always eventually return to that planet after being driven off, in respect for Lorien. Lórien is able to appear in his original humanoid form and in an evolved non-corporeal form which can travel through space and hyperspace. He possesses tremendous psychic abilities.

 **The Triad**

 **Scientific designation:** _Trimens congregatio_ **  
Homeworld:** Triangulum Rift (dimensional rift) **  
Achieved **interstellar travel** : **Approx. 5.2 billion years ago **  
Lifespan:** Immortal **  
Life-form type:** Spaceborne Polypod Bioplasmoids **  
Government:** Triune Collective  
 **Transcendence:** Semi-Transcendent (Psionic)  
 **Title:** The Three

The Triad is the second oldest among the elder races. They are a race of spaceborne beings united in a hive mind society where all individuals stand to one of three "super-minds": Order, Chaos, and Neutrality. Each super-mind act as one individual, even if they are formed by several minds, making some think that the Triad is a race of only three entities. The Triad does not show sentience as individuals, having evolved by joining their minds to enlarge their intelligence, in an organic analog to the way the Geth show sentience. Although they still have a connection to the physical world, they are mostly non-corporeal like the Vorlons and can hide from the younger races. Humans are the only younger race that can detect them when they don't want to be detected, through their substantial technology.

 **The Shadows**

 **Scientific designation:** _Umbraranea malevolentis_ **  
Homeworld:** Unknown (first homeworld), Z'ha'dum (present homeworld) **  
Achieved** **interstellar travel** **:** Approx. 4.1 billion years ago **  
** **Lifespan:** Hundreds of thousands of years  
 **Life-form type:** Hexaped Insectoids  
 **Government:** Shadow Enclave  
 **Transcendence:** Semi-Transcendent (Psionic)  
 **Title:** The Lords of Chaos

The Shadows are a semi-transcendent race of insectoid beings. Evolving from apex predators, the Shadows have the ability to cloak from the view of the younger races and even telepaths. Like many other elder races, their actual name is unknown and impossible to pronounce, being the name 'Shadows' given by the Circle's races. Obsessed with chaos and its ability to trigger evolution, the Shadows have in the orderly Vorlons their main rivals. The Shadows seem to evoke a visceral fear in the Circle's races, probable evidence of Vorlon tampering.

Though we call the Shadows government, the Shadow Enclave, they probably have no actual governing structure, living up to their ideals by sticking together in an anarchic-like mechanic, where the strongest among them rule until they are overthrown.

 **The Viatori**

 **Scientific designation:** _Stellaviatori sublimis_ **  
Homeworld:** Viatoria **  
Achieved **interstellar travel** : **Approx. 3.7 billion years ago **  
Lifespan:** Hundreds of thousands of years **  
Life-form type:** Arthropodal Biomineroids **  
Government:** Viatori Guild  
 **Transcendence:** Semi-Transcendent (Psionic)  
 **Title:** The Travelers

Also known as the Travelers, or the Walkers of Sigma-957, the Viatori (the name the Humans gave them) are amongst the oldest races in our galaxy. With an unending thirst for knowledge and a desire to learn every aspect of the Universe, they ended up possessing more knowledge individually than entire species. They started out as large thick-skinned creatures with poor senses and high psychokinetic capacities. They never developed rudimentary tools as they could construct things physically with their minds. They resorted to technology for complex constructs such as computers or automated construction machines. They soon started exploring space and at the same time the other dimensions and soon became nomadic explorers. They first discovered Thirdspace, which they mapped out in secret, due to the violent and chaotic nature of its natives, then, hyperspace, which led the way to yet other dimensions. They evolved beyond the physical state over a million years ago. In our galaxy, they've been known to deposit their information in two massive uninhabited databases. One at Viatoria (Sigma-957) and another one that was destroyed by an asteroid impact. They usually travel inside huge science labs made for research and trans-dimensional and trans-universal travel. They are barely aware of the younger races. The Humans, with their high technology and experience with trans-dimensional travel, are the only younger race with which they have some contact. The Viatori despise the Vorlons and the Shadows because of their ideals and manipulation of the younger races, preferring to let them alone.

The Viatori government is The Guild, a group of old and psionically powerful Viatori that distribute attributions and scientific missions to lesser individuals. Almost all of their civilization is a means to a defined end, exploration. Ironically, their focus on Jumpspace for billions of years just blinded them to the possibility of discovering Subspace.

 **The Vorlons**

 **Scientific designation:** _Pseudoangelus perfidus_ **  
Homeworld:** Unknown (original homeworld), Vorlon Prime (present homeworld) **  
Achieved** **interstellar travel** **:** Approx. 3.2 billion years ago **  
Lifespan:** Hundreds of thousands of years **  
Life-form type:** Radially Symmetrical Multiped Cephalopoids **  
Government:** Vorlon Empire  
 **Transcendence:** Semi-Transcendent (Psionic)  
 **Title:** The Lords of Order

The Vorlons are a race of pre-ascended and highly psychic creatures. The Vorlons seem to have a terrifying obsession with order, being probably the main agents in the development of the Circle's races, as well as the development of telepaths among them. Not much is known about them, but all the Circle's races see them as angelic beings of light for an unknown reason. On the other hands, those "touched by the Shadows" see them as nothing, while Humans and the Mass Effect races see them as their, supposedly, true form, semi-ascended bioluminescent cephalopods. Though they may appear insubstantial, they are physical life-forms. The interpersonal sociology of the Vorlons seems to be dependent on their telepathy. All Vorlons appear to be connected telepathically, though to what extent their thoughts are shared or hidden remains a mystery. Vorlons who have their own ships also have a telepathic connection with those vessels. Among the First Ones, the Vorlons are the ones more wary of Humanity, remaining in a state of cold war with them after the Second Battle of Jericho (where a Human ship destroyed a Vorlon cruiser that was helping the Minbari) and the Shadow War.

The Vorlon government is the Vorlon Empire. Not much is known about the mechanics of their government. They appear to be governed by a High Command, connected telepathically through distances of several light-years by using their living ships as signal boosters.

 **The Torvalus**

 **Scientific designation:** _Megacillioatum maritima_ **  
Homeworld:** Torvalu **  
Achieved** **interstellar travel** **:** Approx. 2.3 billion years ago **  
Lifespan:** Millions of years/Immortal **  
Life-form type:** Asydiastasic Protozooid **  
Government:** Torvalus Colonies  
 **Transcendence:** Transcendent (Biological)  
 **Title:** The Speculators

The Torvalus speculators are a species of gamblers and tricksters resembling a meter tall transparent protozoan covered in cilia. Until they left for beyond the galactic rim, they devoted their long existences to endless and sometimes highly abstract bets, wagers and probability tests, most of the time implicating other species. As a result, they have brought stealth technology to unequaled levels to give them free reign while observing others. Torvalu, the homeworld of this ancient race is entirely covered in water. The Torvalus themselves, appear as nothing more than large cilia-covered flatworms and are able to absorb energy directly from their surroundings, and can exist for an extended period of time, even in the vacuum of space. The cilia, through which the energy is absorbed, also serve as sensory receptors and fine manipulators. Being less introspective than most of the other First One races, they never tried to evolve beyond their physical forms. This was never a problem for the Torvalus since they were essentially immortal anyway, and their physical form provided them with highly acute senses (much to the chagrin of the Viatori). The Torvalus are also highly psychic, emphasizing telekinetic and pyrokinetic (the ability to remotely affect the molecular energy level of an object) abilities over the more common ESP skills, although they still possess more capability than the most powerful young race telepath. As said before, the Torvalus are, in a way, naturally immortal. Though they suffer from senescence (biological aging) after millions of years living, they can reset their development by producing buds in the body wall, which grow to be miniature adults and simply break away when they are mature. The previous body is left behind as the Torvalus' consciousness is transferred to the new body before it breaks away. For some time, Human scientists thought that this was the Torvalus way of reproducing (asexually) like Earth's protozoans. It was discovered, however, that the Torvalus reproduce sexually by releasing their DNA into the surrounding medium, which is then taken by another Torvalus and mixed to its own DNA to generate a descendant through fragmentation. The Torvalus are sexless and genderless, though, as any Torvalus can reproduce with any other.

The Torvalus government are the Torvalus Colonies. They are a rather chaotic race, and thus don't have a very orderly government. The Colonies are nothing more clusters of Torvalus growing on the surface of Torvalu and other Torvalus worlds, much like microbial colonies. The Colonies allows the Torvalus to transfer proteins and enzymes, as well as information among themselves.

 **The Éonns**

 **Scientific designation:** _Nubeum lucidum_ **  
Homeworld:** Éonn Prime **  
Achieved** **interstellar travel** **:** Approx. 1.2 billion years ago **  
Lifespan:** Hundreds of thousands of years **  
Life-form type:** Bioluminescent Medusoid **  
Government:** Éonn Council  
 **Transcendence:** Semi-Transcendent (Psionic)  
 **Title:** The Lords of Peace

The Éonns, are a race of pre-ascended medusoids similar to Earth's Cnidarians such as jellyfish. Highly telepathic and telekinetic, they move by floating through the air or by swimming in liquid environments. The Éonns use bioluminescence and telepathy to communicate and have diplomacy and peace as their main ideals. The Éonns' affinity to the Atlanti made of them great allies until the Atlanti extinction. This affinity translated into the Éonns' treatment of Humans, not condescending as the other First Ones, the Éonns only advise, do not enforce. They understand that a race's age does not necessarily translate into technological development and moral superiority. Thus, they are more comfortable among the younger races them any other of the First Ones. As the most pacifistic among the elder races, the Éonns do not engage in war nor maintain an actual fleet. Instead, they rely on diplomacy, as well as their isolation inside the Atlanti Crescent. Their planet, Éonn Prime is technically protected by Starfleet, in respect to the close relationship Humanity has with the Éonns. However, the Éonns have their own defenses. They are master in energy dampening technology, and their system is protected by large Energy Dissipators which worked by draining the energy of targeted ships, even other First One and Human ships, disabling their engines, weapons, and defenses, leaving them dead in space.

The Éonn government is the Éonn Council. The Council is formed by oldest among the Éonns, who hold high regard among their people.

 **The Mindriders**

 **Scientific designation:** _Anima psychica_ **  
Homeworld:** Animos **  
Achieved** **interstellar travel** **:** Approx. 500 million years ago **  
Lifespan:** Immortal **  
Life-form type:** Psionic Amorph **  
Government:** Infinite Consciousness  
 **Transcendence:** Transcendent (Psionic)  
 **Title:** The Lords of Mind

The Mindriders shed their corporeal bodies over 500 million years ago. They refer to the moment of transcendence to " _beings of pure thought_ " as "the Great Birth" and consider themselves to be an entirely different species from that which they were before. Actually, the Mindriders evolved to psionic energy, the highest step on Psionic Transcendence. After the Great Birth, they quickly reached Hyperspace and the stars beyond their native system, joining the galactic other highly advanced species such as the Viatori, the Torvalus (with who they sometimes clashed), the Vorlons, the Shadows, but mostly the Triad in a form of a galactic community. Deeply philosophical, they were anxious to learn all that they could from their more experienced brothers, then, after a while, they separated into small groups, and investigated throughout the galaxy, joining together again every so often to exchange information, and then moved beyond. Differently, from other races that followed the path of psionic transcendence, the Mindriders did weren't able to foresee the adverse effect that reaching its highest level would have, almost total isolation from the physical realm. Thus, the Mindriders rely on their technology to travel through space and interact with the physical realm. Mindriders are known to invade the minds of significant individuals of lesser species to observe and sometimes influence history. From a physical view, their homeworld, Animos, is a lush green uninhabited world haunted by "ghosts" that expel anyone who tries to colonize it. Actually, Animos is inhabited by billions of Mindriders in the psionic dimensional plane.

The Mindrider government is the Infinite Consciousness. It is basically a mental network through which the Mindriders exchange information and govern themselves through consensus. However, it is not a collective/hive-mind such as the Triad, as the Mindriders maintain their individuality intact.

 **The Kirishiac Lords**

 **Scientific designation:** _Colossus titanicus_ **  
Homeworld:** Kirish **  
Achieved** **interstellar travel** **:** Approx. 350 million years ago **  
Lifespan:** Thousands of years **  
Life-form type:** Crystalline Biomineroid **  
Government:** Kirishiac Feuds  
 **Transcendence:** Transcendent (Biological)  
 **Title:** The Lords of War

The Kirishiac are an advanced aggressive race of giants that developed into a space-faring civilization over 350 million years ago. They are the youngest among the First Ones, not counting the extragalactic Atlanti. They started as an expansionist power but after defeat at the hands of their elders turned toward a more humble approach. The Kirishiac are huge bipedal creatures with multiple redundant cardiopulmonary systems and biomineral cells arranged in complex lattice structures. They stand over seven meters tall and are almost translucent. They have eight hearts spread throughout their bodies in order to pump blood through limbs on their high gravity homeworld. This redundancy and the necessary strength of their physiological systems made them highly resistant to most kinetic attacks. Once under a united feudalistic government, they started to wander into space and conquered all nearby systems, using heavily armed spaceships and protecting their physical being in atmosphere suits able to reproduce the gravity and pressure of the homeworld. For several thousand years, they expanded their empire, sometimes wiping out a young race, but most times forcing them into slavery. When they discovered hyperspace, they wandered in the territories of older species such as the Viatori and the Shadows. This brought them in a direct if short war with much older civilizations and they were beaten back to their homeworlds. They later opened communication channels with those older races to be granted access back into space.

The Kirishiac government is the Kirishiac Feuds. Though known as a race as The Kirishiac Lords, actually, only a few among the Kirishiac can be called "Lords". Their government is structured as a feudal empire in an eternal "war game". Each feud is governed by a Lord and can be divided into smaller feuds of vassal lords. War is the biggest ideal of the Kirishiac civilization and, thus, being prohibited from waging conflict on the younger races by the older First Ones, the Kirishiac feed their hunger for conflict by maintaining a constant state of civil war within their domains.

 **The Atlanti**

 **Scientific designation:** _Atlanticus progenitor fidelium**_ **  
Homeworld:** Atlan (original homeworld), Earth/Thiera Atlantos/Erde-Tyrene/Erdenne (adopted homeworld) **  
Achieved** **interstellar travel** **:** Unknown (probably between 300 million and 1 billion years ago) **  
Lifespan:** Tens of thousands of years **  
Life-form type:** Bipedal Humanoid **  
Government:** Atlanti Ecumene  
 **Transcendence:** Transcendent (Ascension)  
 **Title:** The Youngest Among the Elders

Though known as "The Youngest Among the Elders", the Atlanti were one of the most advanced and respected races in space. Differently, from the other First Ones, the Atlanteans did not evolve in the Milky Way Galaxy. Actually, no one, not even the other First Ones, knew their true origins or how old they really were. They arrived in this galaxy about 300 million years ago and established themselves on a planet that millions of years after would be known as Earth, the Human homeworld. Soon, they became a respected race. They were pre-transcendent, like the Vorlons, but still appeared with their physical bodies, giving them the appearance of being a younger race, as they were identical in appearance to Humans. However, for millions of years before arriving in this galaxy, the Atlanti focused their evolution on mental and physical abilities before seeking to become energy beings. Because of that, they were like mythological gods in powers despite their Human appearance, strong enough to break mountains, capable of flying at high speeds, highly telepathic and telekinetic, capable of living for tens of thousands of years, and of projecting energy and traveling through dimensional rifts. The Atlanti were the only known race to achieve a unique type of transcendence, known as Ascension, one of the reasons why they attracted the envy of races with delusions of godhood such as the Vorlons, the Shadows and the Kirishiac. The Atlanti were mostly extinct by 9,500 BCE when a plague that they encountered thousands of years before wiped out the majority of their population and a coalition formed by Vorlons, Shadows and Kirishiac Lords bombarded their homeland on Earth, the island of Atlantis. To save their legacy, the Atlanteans created the Humans " _from their own genes_ ", and isolated them from the interference of other Elder Races by creating the Atlanti Crescent. It is known that some Atlanti managed to go beyond The Rim, while others have fully ascended into true godly beings (though the number of ascended Atlanti still living is difficult to estimate, as the Atlanti have been ascending since before they left their home-galaxy). Nothing is known about any of those groups, nor by the Humans nor by the other First Ones.

 **Other First Ones**

The races cited above are not the only First Ones which we have information about, though the only ones we have enough data to study. Some sources also mention other First Ones whose information nor existence we know much about, such as the Leviathans, the Xu-Ha, the Hand and the Reapers.

* * *

 **Transcendence**

As highly evolved beings, the First Ones have reached various degrees of transcendence. Transcendence is the step in the evolution of a sapient species in which members of a species abandon physical bodies to become higher beings or enhance greatly their physical capabilities.

There are four known types of Transcendence:

 **Biological Transcendence**

Biological transcendence focuses on mastery of DNA and evolution. It is achieved through scientific investigation of a species own genetic code and its manipulation to achieve higher physical standards. The species that follow this path can achieve great physical power, biological immortality, and resistance, but never abandon their physical bodies. The only known races to follow this path are the Torvalus and the Kirishiac Lords. The disadvantage is that biological transcendence can lead to genetic instability and overly enhanced psychological traits, such as the well-known Kirishiac aggressiveness.

 **Psionic Transcendence**

Psionic transcendence focuses on the unlocking of the psionic potential of a species. It is achieved through psychic training and manipulation. The species that follow this path can achieve great psionic abilities, as well as the potential to become beings of pure psionic energy. The races known to follow this path are the Vorlons, the Shadows, the Viatori, the Triad, the Firstborn and the Mindriders. The disadvantage is that no way to achieve the highest step of psionic transcendence while keeping the full capability to interact easily with the physical realm has ever been found. Because of that, most races that follow this path choose to stop in a middle ground between matter and mind, keeping a wide range of abilities and their physical presence. The Mindriders, on the other hand, had not known of this limitation until they fully transcended.

 **Synthetic Transcendence**

Synthetic transcendence focuses upon the union between the biological and the synthetic. It is achieved through the digitalization of the mind, and its transferring to synthetic bodies or a to virtual reality. The species that follow this path can achieve functional immortality, the quasi-total isolation from the physical world in an idyllic virtual universe, and true freedom from any emotion or bias. The only known race known to have followed this path is the Xu-Ha. The disadvantage is that the transferring of one's mind to a computer could actually mean the death of the individual, as the new virtual mind created is only an agglomerate of data. Also, synthetic transcendence can change drastically a species' mindset and beliefs, in the worst cases driving the species insane, as happened to the Xu-Ha.

 **Ascension**

Different from all the other methods of transcendence, Ascension is a process that allows beings to separate from their physical bodies and to live eternally in a superior plane of existence with a great amount of knowledge and power. The Atlanti being the only species ever known to achieve Ascension, the method was lost thousands of years ago. Human historians imply that Vorlon, Shadow and Kirishiac's envy of the Atlanti knowledge on Ascension was the cause they waged war against them. Ascended beings exist in all known dimensions of reality, probably the ones that are unknown too. They are immensely powerful, with god-like abilities and knowledge. However, it is known that the ascended Atlanti have a strict policy of not interfering in the lower planes (ours) to prevent ascended beings with delusions of godhood from doing any damage to the fabric of our reality. The total extension of an ascended being's power is unknown but is surely greater than anything we can imagine. As information about ascension is rather scarce, we do not know of any disadvantage of this kind of transcendence.

* * *

* _According to Human standards of scientific binominal nomenclature._  
** _In a strict sense, the_ Atlanti _(Atlanticus progenitor fidelium) are a subspecies of the Atlanian species (Atlanticus progenitor), alongside the Ardori (Atlanticus progenitor ardens)._


	6. Prologue: Delusion

**Title:** The Horizons Beyond

 **Author:** JJ2161

PG- 13

 **Summary:** When two worlds with predefined mindsets, knowledge, and ideals have to throw all of that out the window after contacting a new player. Humanity.

 **NOTICE: THIS STORY MAY BE DISTRIBUTED FREE OF CHARGE BUT MUST NOT BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED FOR FINANCIAL RETURN IN ANY FORM.**

 **-COPYRIGHT/DISCLAIMER NOTICE-**

 **" _Star Trek", "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine",_ _"Star Trek: Voyager",_ _"Star Trek: Enterprise", "Star Trek: Discovery", "Star Trek Online", "Star Trek: Beyond",_ and all related _Star Trek_ related material, its characters and certain technological devices and/or references to such, from the television shows, movies, and games may be or are registered trademarks, and may be or are copyrighted by Paramount Studios and whatever entity or whomever others which may own the rights.**

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 **Only certain characters and technologies are mine and these are the creation of the author who is solely responsible for them as such. Neither studio or other company is responsible for the content of this story.**

 **Certain technologies, concepts, ship designs, among other things, were extracted from fandom and fan art available on the Internet. They all belong to their respective authors.**

THIS STATEMENT MUST ACCOMPANY THE STORY 'THE HORIZONS BEYOND' IF DISTRIBUTED. THIS STORY IS FREE OF CHARGE AND MAY NOT BE SOLD OR EXCHANGED FOR FINANCIAL RETURN IN ANY FORM. THIS DEDICATION MUST ACCOMPANY ANY DISTRIBUTION OF THIS STORY.

 **Dedication:**

To my favorite author on this domain, AlbertG, and all co-authors to his stories, as well as RenS. Their stories helped me not only learn English while having fun, but inspired me to write The Horizons Beyond.

* * *

 **The Horizons Beyond**

 **Prologue**

 **"Delusion"**

The Great Hall at the planet Saa'n was silent. The Vorlon Lords surrounded the bipedal humanoid, who was on his knees, bound by an artificially generated gravitational force. Sweat was dripping from his face, his reddish hair wet. The Atlanti's mind was strong, and even the three Vorlon Lords were struggling to break through his defenses. To think that such a powerful mind was hidden inside such a weak-looking body. But the Atlanti were no weaklings, Kaldosh knew that. A single individual could fly through a mountain like a physical god.

It doesn't matter.

He would give in soon. The Atlanti pushed one last time, a psychic blast that impacted the Vorlons, killing one of them. Hurt and angered, Kaldosh took all his power and pushed again against his mind, his comrade joining him a second later.

They needed the information. The Atlanti knew the secret, the path to godhood. It was the Vorlon's destiny, their fundamental right, and they would take it! The Atlanti was young, some thousands of years, and his youthful vigor was balanced by his inexperience. He was the last of his kind, the rest destroyed by the Vorlon might. His people's actions were precipitate, fueled by their annoyance towards the Atlanti arrogance. Now, it was their last chance to get what they wanted. The Atlanti were extinct, their homeworld and a large area of space around it surrounded by an impenetrable storm. It was the time, the Atlanti youngling was giving in, they were succeeding... And then, with his last breath, the youngling looked at them and smirked. Kaldosh was just about to teach him his place when he felt the fabric of space-time itself warp around the Atlanti. His body glowed like nothing he had ever seem and shifted to a shapeless mass of light, disappearing soon after. Suddenly, Kaldosh felt it. A presence, more powerful than anything he knew. More powerful than the Vorlon High Lords, more powerful than an Atlanti Elder, more powerful than the extradimensional abominations he remembers well, more powerful than even Lórien.

"Your efforts are useless," said a ghostly voice, drawing Kaldosh from his thoughts.

Kaldosh and his comrade turned around and saw the youngling they had been dealing with. He appeared angelical, not so different from the form the Vorlons liked to appear as. His body glowed white, with tentacles of light moving around him.

Angry, Kaldosh spoke:

"You must give it to us, you must tell us! It is our right, our destiny!"

Dozens of other Vorlons entered the hall, terrified by the powerful presence they felt. The ascended Atlanti smirked.

"So much pain, so much death you inflicted upon the other races, mine included. And for what? Power... Control... No. You are not worthy of it. My people and I take it as an ironical and yet tragic turning. Our extinction by your hands shall be your downfall. No one will ever be able to enlighten you the way you want. You will stagnate. Civilizations will evolve around you, and you will remain the same. I could say that I left behind these petty emotions, but I would be lying. I am actually very pleased with this outcome."

Kaldosh fumed with anger. He drew all his strength and alongside his comrade and all the dozens of other Vorlons at the Great Hall they sent a powerful psychic burst to the ascended being. But it had no effect. The Atlanti raised his hand.

"Have a taste of power beyond your comprehension, of power that you will never have," he said and snapped his fingers.

In a flash of light, they were all in orbit, inside their ships. At the same instant, Kaldosh's ship told him that the entire planet was somehow evacuated and that the planet's star became unstable. In less than a minute, the star exploded, the shockwave wiping out everything in its path. Desperate, the Vorlons opened jump points, fleeing while the explosion reached the planet below.

Kaldosh looked at the space in fear and, yet, defiance.

Such power. Such might. And it will be theirs.


	7. Chapter 1: The Undiscovered Country

**Chapter 1**

 **"The Undiscovered Country"**

 **Year 2498**  
 **Edge of Human space**  
 _ **Galaxy-class starship USS Santos-Dumont:**_

Captain's log: It is a historic day to Humankind. After centuries, the Parliament finally repealed the Act of Isolation. We've been traveling the stars for five hundred years now. During this time, we found only one alien race, the peaceful and friendly Éonns. They told us the history of this region of space. They told us of how a war between very powerful and ancient races led to the creation of the Crescent, the nightmarish storms of hyperspace shielded Humanity from interference and kept us safe from the races beyond our shores. After knowing this, Humanity decided to grow the most it could within the Crescent before venturing out. Now the time has come. We are strong and confident.

Captain Marco Rogers turned the recorder off. He walked out of his ready room into the bridge.

"Report," he ordered as he sat on the captain's chair.

"We've been scanning deep space for the last our," Lieutenant Melian Celebrin answered. "We found a system that seems to be very busy, a trading hub. We figured they use tachyons to transmit information at faster than light speeds. Different from our use of subspace, but does the job. Our translation team is working with their transmissions to develop a translation matrix, but we already know they are called Vree and they call the system Alzeral."

"Good," Rogers replied. "Lucas, set course to Alzeral, drop us of warp at the edge of the system, we don't want to appear hostile."

"Aye, captain," Lieutenant Lucas Monteiro, the pilot, complied.

The ship's nacelles glowed brightly as it stretched forward and disappeared in a streak of light.

"Mara?" Rogers asked and a beautiful woman materialized beside his chair.

"Don't let them hack into our systems, I know," she answered.

Cyber-officer Mara Eko-11 smirked. The thin, dim glowing patterns on her skin reminiscent of circuitry.

She looked Human but she wasn't, at least not technically. Mara wore a jet black light suit typical of Virtuan culture. An attire that resembles old Earth motorcycle suits with fluorescent-like glowing strips. Virtuans are a race of living programs that evolved deep inside Earth's computer network during the 21st century, being completely integrated into Human society when their nation, Virtua, joined the United Nations more than five hundred years ago.

"We are here, sir," Lucas said.

"I'm picking many tachyon based transmissions, sir," Takeru said. "The system seems not only to be a trade hub but an information nod too."

 **Vree Space**  
 _ **Alzeral Colony:**_

Governor Vokal ruled over the richest colony of the Merchant/Adventurer's Guild, an amazingly important trade hub. It connected into Tokati, Torata, Markab, and Yolu space, while easily defendable given its direct hyperspace route to the homeworld. It was a world always full of people and of money. Actually, the position of Governor of Alzeral was very coveted, and Vokal had to pull almost all of his strings to gain it. Now he would only reap the benefits.

Or so he thought. Actually, now he was very annoyed. His military command had called him minutes later, and now he was here looking at the screens showing a rather medium-sized vessel of unknown configuration.

"They have arrived in the system about an hour ago when they were caught by our sensor arrays at the border of the system," the Fleet Master said. "The design is unknown, and the markings on their hull are unintelligible to us."

"Did they try to contact us?" Vokal asked.

"No, sir," the Fleet Master answered. "We detected no transmission whatsoever since they arrived, electromagnetic or tachyonic."

"It doesn't seem very intimidating, though," Vokal told him. "Have you seem all those windows!? No military vessel would be that vulnerable! I also noticed you didn't detect any weapon ports either."

"Only three openings that seem to be torpedo launchers, but that is all. They blocked all our most invasive scans."

"That is not all, Master Governor," one of the science masters said. "They didn't arrive by opening a jump point, either. According to our sensors, they deaccelerated from faster-than-light speeds. We extrapolated the route they came through and, well, it seems they came from the Crescent."

"That is impossible!" Vokal exclaimed. "No race can travel faster than the speed of light in commonspace! Have you calibrated your sensors?"

"Yes, and we ran diagnosis many times. They did travel faster than light. From within the Crescent."

Vokal looked back at the screen. Well. That seems to be a first contact situation.

"Well," he said. "Let's hope they can receive tachyon transmissions. Hail them."

As the strange ship answered their hail, Vokal was caught by surprise. In the screen, he could see a strange looking room, certainly the ship's bridge or command center. It was wide and spacious, with holographic screens and physical screens everywhere. But what surprised him the most were the aliens. They were Centauri! Was this some new Centauri plot-

No, they weren't Centauri, Vokal noticed now. Their hair was different, their clothes lacked all the ornaments, and the bridge looked too clean, lacking all the decorations. They must be another race.

Vokal looked back at the man sitting at the central chair. He noticed how his eyes widened in what seemed surprised when he saw him. That was odd.

"This is Governor Ikalo Vokal of the Merchant/Adventurer's Guild. Please, identify yourself."

"I'm Captain Marco Rogers, a Human representing the United Systems Federation," he answered with a diplomatic smile on his face. Well, at least his mannerisms were Centauri-like enough for Vokal to read him. "I'm sorry for staying silent for so long, we were deciphering your language to make contact possible. I was sent on a mission by my people to contact the many races of this region of space and open diplomatic relations," he smiled, but Vokal could see he found something amusing. "We come in peace."

Vokal noticed that the other members of his crew seemed amused as well. By what? Vokal didn't know. All that matters is that they didn't seem very eager to open relations and a race that wants to talk, wants to trade. He imagined all the new products they could have to offer. Art, minerals, technology. Alzeral would become even richer, and so would him.

"Very well," he answered. "I'm sending two cruisers to escort you from your position back to the planet. Meanwhile, I will talk to the Grandmaster for instructions."

"I'll be waiting," the screen went dark.

"Master Governor," the Fleet Master called. "I just received... unusual information."

"What information?"

"When the alien said he was Human, I remember one thing I learned from my burrow elder, who was from the Scientists Guild. They keep most of their discoveries cataloged, so I called in some contacts in the homeworld. Humans are a race we encountered before, more than five hundred sun-years ago in the Crescent."

"I don't understand, the Crescent is a nightmare of swirling hyperspace storms. It is said not even the First Ones can navigate there! And no one would be stupid to try!" Vokal replied.

"At the time were adventurous," the Fleet Master said. "It was during the time in which we discovered a safe corridor that led to a then primitive planet still in the Atomic Age. The corridor didn't last, and soon we couldn't go there anymore, but during the time it was open we abducted many Humans for study. Those were times in which we were less civilized, as you know."

Vokal was speechless. He hoped those Humans wouldn't remember it, or don't care. He wouldn't want to lose such a good profit prospect.

"That explains their different way of interstellar travel," one of the science masters said. "They couldn't possibly develop hyperspace technology if they live in the Crescent. They were completely isolated until now. Though their technology is certainly inferior due to their isolation, it must work by completely different principles!"

Vokal was enthusiastic too. He should call Grandmaster Keral as soon as possible.

 **Vree Space**  
 **Alzeral System**  
 _ **USS Santos-Dumont:**_

" _We come in peace_? Seriously?" Mara raised her eyebrow to Captain Rogers.

"Oh, please! I couldn't resist. And I'm sure neither would you," Rogers replied. "Who would've thought that we would contact the Greys!? And that they actually have flying saucers!?"

"That is not the point," Mara said, only trying to remain serious. "Ok, it was fun!" She admitted.

Takeru laughed. They were all sat by the table of the briefing room now so they could discuss their next action.

"We are being escorted by the flying saucers," he said. "I can't believe I just said that. We could warp there in seconds, but they seem to feel safer if we follow them sub-light. Also, Governor Vokal sent us a message minutes ago. He told us that Grandmaster Keral, who seems to be the highest authority in his guild, will arrive here from Vreetan in 12 hours. He will also be bringing representatives to four other alien governments that happened to be at Vreetan when we made contact."

"The more the better," Rogers said and stood up. "We've been isolated for so long. Now its time to meet our neighbors."

 **Vree Space**  
 **Alzeral System**  
 _ **Alzeral Colony:**_

They were prepared. Vokal looked around to see if everything was right. Grandmaster Keral was with Ambassador Mollari of the Centauri Republic and G'Kar of the Narn Regime. Why the Grandmaster decided to bring them, he didn't know. Maybe he thought it would be amusing. It was clear that the two ambassadors were bickering at each other like children. They literally met yesterday in Vreetan and we're already at each other's throats.

Amusing indeed.

Ambassador Cha'Nah of the Dilgar Imperium stood far from them, with that proud, superior face that seemed to be common to his race. Vokal could swear he saw him looking with disgust to the surroundings.

"Master Governor," Vokal's aide called him with a low voice. "Captain Rogers says he is ready."

"Perfect," Vokal said. "Prepare the landing area."

"Actually, master," his aide said. "He said he won't use a shuttle or a transport."

"What do you mean by-"

A strange, chiming sound interrupted Vokal. He looked wide-eyed as in front of him four pillars made of blue streaks and sparkles of light accompanied the chimes. In a matter of seconds, the silhouettes became clear, the sound and lights disappeared, and four Humans stood there, smiling.

Teleportation technology! To think those newcomers could have such advances in their hands! The Vree do have teleportation technology too, their dimensional slip devices. It was very bulky, very power hungry, and had a very limited range, though. However, this teleportation technology the Humans just showed seemed to work in a very different principle to the space-folding of the Vree device.

Vokal noticed that the other representatives there were as astonished as him. Ambassador G'Kar was literally salivating.

Vokal walked to the Humans, bowing to them respectfully.

"Captain Rogers," he greeted. "In the name of the Ventuki Conglomerate and the Merchant/Adventurers Guild, I welcome you and your crew to Alzeral. I hope the future relations between the Ventuki Conglomerate and the United Systems Federation be very friendly and fruitful."

"In the name of the USF, I thank you, Governor," Rogers answered. "These are my crewmates: Lieutenant Commander Melian Celebrin, Lieutenant Mara Eko-11, and Ambassador Khalil Marcus."

"We greet and welcome you," he said as the Grandmaster approached. "I present you Grandmaster Hono Keral of the Merchant/Adventurers Guild-"

"And I am Ambassador Londo Mollari of the Centauri Republic," the Centauri ambassador walked in, interrupting Vokal. The Grandmaster only smirked, as if having the most fun. "That is a very curious demonstration you made there with that teleportation device. Very theatrical! The Centauri Republic looks forward for trading technology and art with your federation."

"I'm sorry, ambassador," Rogers apologized. "But I have no authority to sanction any technology transfer. We are actually very jealous of our technology."

"Ah, what bad could come from a small exchange of little trinkets-"

"I am very sorry for him, Capitan," the Narn ambassador interrupted Mollari. "I understand if you are annoyed by this creature, but he Centauri are very primary creatures, you know? Did you know that they invaded our homewo-"

"Well, let's start the welcoming celebrations!" Vokal said, discreetly pulling the ambassadors away from the guests, a it seemed like the Grandmaster would do nothing more than smile with amusement. That decrepit, crazy oldling was leaving all the work for Vokal to do, so he have to take control to guarantee a trade agreement that would benefit him. Maybe even allow him the chance to take that old kovati's place as Grandmaster!

They entered the room where the banquet would be served.

It was a cultural show. With traditional dancers, folk singers, humorists, and poets. He looked at the Humans, dazzled, an interest in experiencing a different culture he has never seen in any other alien. Well, now would come the best part of experiencing a new culture.

"The feast is served!," Vokal said.

The Humans looked at the strange foods presented to them. The living alien worms covered in goo were the only thing they could begin to recognize. Captain Rogers looked back at the other ambassadors who looked just as sick as the Humans. He flashed a diplomatic smiled back at Vokal, trying to hold his shit together.

"Well," the governor said. "To de feast!"

Rogers and the other Humans looked horrified as Vokal's small, thin little mouth opened and his internal mouth extended to the food, ravaging it like a… well, Rogers couldn't find anything to describe it.

The Humans and the ambassadors were able to find some dishes that they could tolerate, with the help of Melian's tricorder.

"Miss Eko," the Grandmaster called Mara. "I noticed that you haven't eaten. Is the food not of your liking?"

"If it is or not, I wouldn't know, Grandmaster," she answered with a gentle smile. "I cannot eat physical food as this body you see here is but a hologram. I'm a member of a race of sentient programs that evolved hundreds of years ago on Earth's computer network."

"A hologram? But, how?" Ambassador G'Kar asked mortified. "I shook your hand as it was the Human greeting you taught us. I could feel your hand, the texture of the skin, the pulsating blood, even the body heat!"

"Our holographic technology is very advanced. We make use of light and force fields to create the illusion of mass."

"Astounding!" Ambassador Mollari said. "A very real demonstration of your level of technology! And that synthetic servant your people built acts just like the real thing!"

"Excuse me, ambassador," Mara said calmly, yet clearly offended. "I'm no one's servant. My people were not directly created by the Humans, we evolved from primitive programs they left in their computer network. We have our own language, culture, religions, and identity. We are full citizens of the United Systems Federation in equal footing to any Human. Actually, that is where the name Virtuan came from, as we were once called Virtual Humans. This holographic body is what allows us to interact directly with the physical world."

"Of course the ambassador of the Centauri would imply you are slave," G'Kar said passionately. "They are a barbaric people who enslaved my world and-"

"I have an idea," Ambassador Marcus interrupted, not wanting to see an interstellar war being declared at the dining table. "When do you think about a tour in our ship?"

"So you can make us your prisoners?" Ambassador Cha'Nah of the Dilgar spoke for the first time. "What guarantee would we have that you don't plan to make hostages of high ranking representatives of four interstellar governments?"

"Well," Ambassador Marcus replied. "There are fourteen Vree ships in the system, seven of which are close enough to my ship to look out for you. But we wouldn't kidnap you. We ask you to take a leap of faith."

After some convincing, the ambassadors agreed. What Marcus said about the Vree ships really gave them some sense of security.

They waited outside, close to the landing pads. They insisted not to be beamed in.

Londo Mollari saw when the shuttle descended from the sky and landed easily in place. It had under it the similar glowing blue pylons to the larger ship in orbit, certainly some kind of propulsion engine. They were all divided into two groups.

When he entered the shuttle, Londo looked around confused. It was too spacious. All other small ships Londo knew of dedicated most of their space to the reactor, the thrusters, and other basic functions.

He sat on the comfortable seat by the wall beside Grandmaster Keral and G'Kar. The savage also looking around in amazement.

As the shuttle took flight, Londo's eyes widened as he noticed that he couldn't feel any acceleration at all!

"We have good inertial dampeners," the Human, Lieutenant Celebrin, explained.

"It seems you have mastered gravimetric technology too," G'Kar said, and for the first time, Londo realized that there was gravity on this shuttle.

Of course, being Centauri, Londo was used to artificial gravity, he didn't even think about how a new coming race shouldn't be hard such technology.

"I don't understand the surprise, ambassador," the AI woman, Mara, commented.

"Artificial gravity is very advanced technology," the Grandmaster spoke for the first time. "Only older and more advanced races have mastered its secrets.

Mara frowned to this. Artificial gravity was such a basic technology in Human space. She also saw the scans on the Vree ships. They had no shields and their weapons were rather primitive. Was this the level of development of the races of the region?

"Such a green world," Ambassador G'Kar said as he looked at the planet being left behind. "Have I told you that the Centauri once occupied my world, Miss Celebrin? They plundered it dry of its resources. What was once a verdant world full of life became an arid wasteland!"

"I'm so sorry, ambassador," Ambassador Marcus said. "It is sad what happened to your world. Maybe I can arrange talks with my government to lend help in terraforming it. We are very adept in this area."

"Oh," G'Kar's mask dropped and, for the first time, his smile was genuine. "Thank you, sincerely.

Londo looked out the window and saw as the shuttle approached the Human ship. It was odd shaped, yes, but which alien ship wasn't? The shuttle flew to the back of the ship and, as has become a habit of his that day, he looked wide eyes as he saw people walking around the docking area, open to space! They used no special suits or whatever, and it seemed like this ship had gravity too.

His questions were finally answered when the shuttle entered the area, passing through some kind of force fields that weren't visible before.

The shuttle landed and they got out.

"Welcome to the USS Santos-Dumont," Captain Rogers said as he got out of the other shuttle.

They walked down the corridors. Londo could see the Humans doing their duties an looking at them with curiosity. But for some reason, the Vree among them were the ones drawing the most attention.

"Engineering," the Captain said as they entered the lift.

The lift moved and its door opened to a wide room. It had many Humans doing their duties, holographic and touch screens. But the most visible feature of the room was the big, tubular structure in the middle.

"That is the warp core, our main reactor," the Captain explained.

"Is it some kind of fusion reactor?" Ambassador Cha'Nah asked, curious.

"No, it's a matter-antimatter reactor."

"You can manipulate antimatter?" Londo exclaimed. "That is very advanced technology. Only the older races and the Vree can harness it!"

"It is one of our main energy sources," Mara said. "But we also use other power sources where they are convenient."

They took some time on their tour. The Humans showed their astrometric lab, sickbay, bridge. Londo really enjoyed it. The Humans avoided giving too much information. Any question about how their technology worked they dismissed politely. It was an enlightening, though.

They were now in an odd looking room. It was empty and the walls covered by a greenish metallic grid.

"Welcome to the holodeck," Captain Rogers said. "Computer, run program Paris 17."

Suddenly, everything around them changed. They were in the middle of a wide avenue surrounded by beautiful, ornate beige buildings. Humans walked around and one of them bumped on Londo and apologized before walking into a store.

"Come, sit with me," Captain Rogers invited them as he sat by a wooden table and called a waitress. "Bonjour. Je voudrais une crêpe suzette, s'il vous plaît."

"What is that?" G'Kar asked looking around.

"We said we have good holographic technology. This is Paris, one of my favorite cities on Earth."

The waitress brought his dish. The smell was divine and made Londo salivate. Captain Rogers took a bite from it.

"I brought you here so we could talk in a more informal setting," he continued. "My people struggled to unify, to find peace, to travel the stars. We use say that the milenia we spent bound to Earth, bound to Sol, was the First Age of Mankind. Them we developed warp drive and colonized the stars. That was the Second Age."

He looked back at the city, the big arch-like structure far away stood proud. "What we are living here, now, is the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind. I hope it is marked by harmony and friendship between our many peoples."


	8. Chapter 2: The Intervention

**A/N: This is the second chapter and I hope you're enjoying it. Please review on what you like and what you don't like. It will help me a lot.**

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 **Chapter 2**  
 **"The Intervention"**

 **Year 2515**

 **Abbai Space**  
 **Utriel System**

The space around Utriel II was serene. The planet was a scientific colony of the Abbai Matriarchate, lightly defended. There, the Abbai developed new technologies to the betterment of their people. The Abbai are a spiritual people, and they believe that a serene environment is necessary to a good scientific revelation. The Abbai labs were surrounded by lush humid gardens and lakes full of colorful corals and fish. 'A peaceful mind is the mother of invention', they say.

But their peace soon ends. Suddenly, two jump points open, disgorging six ships a kilometer long. The ships are yellow with details in black giving them a more predatory look. Soon after leaving jumpspace, the ships fire at the satellites orbiting the planet, green plasma pulses and x-ray lasers tearing through the metal as if they were not there.

Baroness Mir'chass, commander of the fleet, was disappointed. She expected to see the famous Abbai force fields working against their weapons. Probably, though, they were too energy intensive to equip in such disposable things such as satellites. It doesn't matter. She would carry her mission. The Abbai were taken by surprise, of course. The Dilgar had signed a non-aggression pact with them just after they started their expansion campaigns. The treaty was more of use to the Dilgar than to the Abbai. They knew the Abbai would abide by it, allowing the Dilgar to wreak havoc to the other races while preparing to attack Abbai space. Glorious Leader Jha'dur, long may she guide us, knew that. Though technologically advanced, the Abbai were too passive, too pacifist. Their ships were tough, but the ones piloting them, not so much.

Her fleet started to bombard the planet, they needed to force the Abbai to act.

"Launch the spy drones, we'll need them to watch the spectacle properly." She ordered.

"Milady, the largest laboratory complexes have raised shields, our weapons' damage was largely reduced." Said one of Mir'chass officers.

She smirked, finally, she got her chance.

"Good. Launch the Kass'sin." She ordered. "Aim it at the top of their shields."

She watched as her officers worked around her. Such young souls, vigorous, serving to the glory of the Dilgar. One of the officers signaled the launching of the weapon. She looked at the screen in awe as the bombs exploded when they hit the shields, releasing a thick cloud of grey gas that fell slowly through the force field and over the people who thought they were safe. Ah, what she would give for a bottle of the most expensive vis'shati to taste while living this moment. The spy drones were recording at maximum resolution, and she could see clearly through the transparency of the Abbai force fields. The filthy shoal running, their eyes bleeding, their skin melting, their cries of agony the most beautiful song she has ever heard. Long may Jha'dur guide them. She was a blessing to their people. The Glorious Leader realized that Abbai shields were incapable of stopping slow moving particles. While Dilgar particle beam fire was not much effective against them, other weapons such as gas were very effective. The gas they just used was developed by the Glorious Leader herself. Her intelligence was astonishing. Her strategy was simple: to use kinetic weapons to destroy the Abbai ships and then when they are hiding on their planet under their shields, use gas-based weapons to bypass the shields and kill the most of them without damaging too much the planet. Abba IV was an inhabitable planet, not perfect but still good to Dilgar colonization. It would be foolish to just destroy every planet they attack when guaranteeing living space to the Dilgar was their main objective.

Mir'chass looked at her crew, some sharing her sadistic gaze while looking at the world below being cleansed of the filth. Others, she noticed with contempt, were looking at the monument to the Dilgar glory with disgust and horror, not actually able to properly mask their feelings, and she knew they were trying to. One of them looked like he was going to vomit. Disgusting weaklings. There were still so many weaklings among her people, disgusting traitors who weren't capable of admiring the glory of their mission. It doesn't matter. The superior controls the inferior. The weak will be cannon fodder in this war, only the strong will survive and rule. They will die to allow the Dilgar to grow. Like the undesirable branches of a great tree, they will be cut off and, from their corpses, the Dilgar will feed and grow to heights never achieved.

 **United Systems Federation**  
 **Earth**  
 **Potsdam, Germany**  
 _ **Dilgar Embassy:**_

 _"Good Evening, I am Malik Heisenberg, and this is the Interstellar News Network. The Dilgar attacked the lightly defended Abbai science colony of Utriel II with chemical weapons at the 23 hours of yesterday, Paris time. The estimates are that between 8 and 11 million Abbai were killed in an unprovoked and brutal attack on a peaceful planet. The attack is also a clear violation of the non-aggression pact signed between the Dilgar and the Abbai six months ago and mediated by the USF. The attack on Utriel II added up the previous atrocities committed by the Dilgar in their war, led to the growth of pro-intervention factions in the Parliament in Paris. Around the USF space, people have demanded the federal government to intervene in the War of Dilgar Aggression."_

The screen changed to show interviews with USF citizens throughout the Human space. A Virtuan woman called for peace while being interviewed inside a light rail, with a large window behind her showing the sunset at the shining city of Tron, in Virtua. Then it changed again. Now an elder from Asgard talking about how his ancestors fought the 'Nazis' almost six hundred years ago while walking through a busy, crystalline, prismatic bridge, the famous Bifrost Bridge, on Asgard, with the golden skyscrapers and snow-covered mountains being visible on the horizon. Again the screen changed. This time a woman from Aquaria. Outside the windows of the vehicle she was in, one of Aquaria's famous underwater bubble cities sparked with light. The woman, identified as one of the Aquarian members of the USF Parliament, was talking about how the USF should not let its non-interference policy get in the way of going against the _atrocities committed by the other races_. The screen returned to the anchor.

 _"The Dilgar Ambassador on Earth have not responded our interview requests yet, but he sent a written statement saying, quote: ' the actions of the Dilgar Imperium are a legitimate act of self-defense against the very alliance created to destroy us. Every exaggerated act from our military officers will be investigated and judged by Dilgar law.' unquote. We must remember that, other than some skirmishes with the Ch'lonas, Humanity has not been to war for more than two hundred years. The last of our wars being the Colonial Conflicts before the Treaty of Equals in 2300 and the foundation of the USF. Though some analysts say we are not prepared for war, Starfleet Command says..."_

"Off." He said to the screen on the wall. Ambassador Chas'sar, of the Dilgar Imperium while looking at the mirror in front of him. More wrinkles appeared in the last months than in his entire life. Eight months of total war. eight months of total glory to the Dilgar state. And yet, here he was, trying to hold the Humans within their space, to convince them to not interfere. In the end, his was the most important task in all the Dilgar war effort. To keep the Humans from interfering.

Glorious Leader Jha'dur herself, long may she guide us, gave him this assignment. She herself said him that ' _for such an advanced species, the Humans are too compassionate, too merciful, too soft._ ' They simply couldn't understand that for the Dilgar to live, they had to take the territory they need, they need living space more than anything. The fact that the filth in his area of space allied under a so-called 'League of Non-Aligned Worlds' against them was just the proof they need. Now they couldn't back off anymore. Their only options were to exterminate or be exterminated. But now, he knew his mission won't see success. The attack on Utriel II was the last straw. They would intervene, he knew it. Hopefully, the Glorious Leader already has a weapon she can use against them. That was the plan all along, to keep the Humans out of the war until the Dilgar were in a good position. Now was the time. The Abbai Matriarchate would have fallen by the end of this week. They would have the Abbai as slaves, installing their shields in Dilgar vessels. All space around the Dilgar core space will have bee pacified and fortified. The Glorious Leader predicted that they won't call him until next week and that they'll take at least two months, maybe one, to decide for going to war and to prepare an expeditionary force. It was time for him to leave. With her weapons, they will make the Humans bleed, and then make peace with them from a position of power, keeping the territory and the slaves they won. Well, that was Jha'dur's plan, but Chas'sar was not so sure of it. He has lived on Earth for years. He knows them, and he knows they will very probably defeat the Dilgar quickly.

"Milord, I've already bought your ticket to Omelos." His aide entered, already speaking. "You'll go by and Asgardian Starlines ship, your flight is the day after tomorrow. You get to the ship at the Chancellor Bismarck Spaceport, it'll get you to the Vortex Station, where a Dilgar ship will get you to Omelos." His aide paused. "Also... sir... the USF Parliament requested your presence at a meeting tomorrow to clarify about the war."

Tomorrow? Chas'sar turned to him with eyes wide. He then sighed tiredly. Quickly, indeed.

 **Earth**  
 **Paris, France**  
 **Palais de la Concorde**  
 _ **Parliament of the United Systems Federation:**_

"Despite the excuses just made by the Dilgar Ambassador, we were not capable of seeing any effort of the Dilgar government to lessen its exaggerate actions in their war against the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. It is clear that he is trying to gain time. If so, it means Jha'dur plans something, something that she knows she cannot do if we interfere. We must stop talking and start acting!" Said a parliamentarian from Asgard. "Comac IV, Tirolus, Halax, and now Utriel II. All of them, planets destroyed by Jha'dur's madness!"

"We have been sending humanitarian aid to the war zone since the beginning of this conflict. We must believe in our diplomatic team's capacity to bring the Dilgar to the negotiation table." A parliamentarian from Thermidor said.

"Their sun is going nova and they are too proud to let we help. Only defeat will bring them to the table" He sighed. "Members of the parliament, despite the Dilgar claims of being only defending themselves from inevitable aggression from the League, we know it actually is, a war of expansion. Our intelligence has been clear. The Dilgar Imperium is making use of deadly weapons of mass destruction, poisonous gas, bioweapons, nuclear strikes at heavily populated areas. The survivors are being used as slave labor to move the Dilgar war machine. Those are the lucky ones. The unlucky... well, they are being used as subjects in Jha'dur's experiments. You all have seen the reports from Starfleet Intelligence, you've seen the images they showed us."

They all silenced. Only the mention of the atrocities they saw remembered them of the disgust they felt. A parliamentarian from Earth stood up.

"We have a dilemma here. I understand it. On one side, we have our non-interference policy, on the other, the knowledge that we can stop the Dilgar." He paused. "When I was eight, my father told me a story about how our ancestor was an officer in the Nazi army during World War II. I remember I felt disgusted by having Nazi blood. I cried. My father then told me to never feel sorry for what my ancestors did, but instead to never do the same nor do nothing when someone does the same. He told me to never feel disgusted with myself because of what blood I carried, that all of us have the blood of heroes and villains. But then, he said that our ancestor was actually the kind of man to look up to, despite the Nazi front. He told me how he saved more than a thousand Jews helping them escape the concentration camp he worked in. After the war, the Allies tried him, as part of the denazification process. What they didn't expect, was that the people he saved would hear of their trial and together testify for him. This story is very important to us because it teaches us an important lesson," he sighed. "The basis of a legal system is not law, but principle. If the law hurts the principle, then the law is not applicable. The non-interference law was made to protect other species from oppression. Although, by not interfering, we are letting the same peoples we want to protect be oppressed. In our situation, the law is going against the principle and, therefore, it must be ignored. This way, our inaction is illegal. So, let's stop making excuses and just act!"

 **Dilgar Imperium**  
 **Omelos**

The so-called Glorious Leader of the Dilgar Imperium, the Warmaster Jha'dur, looked at the document in her hands with attention. It was a list of demands from the Humans. The demanded her to withdraw from all occupied worlds, to release all the slaves and to surrender herself and her higher officers to be prosecuted for _crimes against the sentience_ in an international court. Her refusal meant a declaration of war by the United Systems Federation.

That was unexpected.

Jha'dur expected she would have more time to build her forces and, then, when the Dilgar Imperium is strongly established, she could just go to the negotiating table. They gave her only some days to decide. She would have to act. While it was certain that the Humans are highly advanced, no one really knows what they weapons, or defenses or ships are really like in battle.

The Ch'lonas were the only race to have a fight with the Humans, and then they isolated themselves so deep in their space that even her wide intelligence network wasn't capable of reaching them. Her attempts to acquire information from the source were not successful too. For such a diplomatic race, the Humans are very isolationistic. Their technology could only be fully used by their citizens, even the alien ambassadors don't have full access. Chas'sar tried to smuggle some artifacts when he came back from Earth, a tricorder and some power cells, but they couldn't make it work, as it is necessary to be a registered USF citizen or resident to use them. Then they tried to analyze them, but they just self-destructed when they tried to, they disaggregated at the atomic level if her scientists are to be trusted.

According to Chas'sar, that was expected, as Humans are very careful about their technology. It frustrated Jha'dur as she expected to analyze pieces of the fabulous Human technology. A genius like herself would surely have been capable of uncovering its secrets if she had some working technology in her hands.

Now, she had nothing. It doesn't matter, she had the largest fleet the galaxy has ever seen by her side. They had just conquered the Yolu space and it would be much beneficial to the Dilgar. The Yolu were an old race, older than the Minbari, though with just the technology level of the Centauri. They were advanced, but they were a spiritual race not interested in war, they relied too much on their reputation and diplomacy as their defense policy. Their ships were strong, the stronger among the League races, but their numbers were too small. With a surprise attack by a large fleet, the Dilgar managed to make them bend the knee. She couldn't comply with the Humans' demands now, her people were too close to the glory to give up. But she had one last card up her sleeve. She would use their passions against them, it would give them time to upgrade the rest of her fleet with the Abbai, Drazi, and Yolu technology she acquired during the invasions and the weapons she bought from the Centauri.

She smirked. Those idiots thought they could control her, use her as their pawn. Nevermind, in the end, they would fall too. Jha'dur looked at the screen in front of her. The trap was set. She took the paper with both her hands and tore it with a smirk on her face. Omelos would rise to the top. She already controlled almost all of the League worlds. She would drive the Humans back to the Crescent in fear, they will wish to isolate themselves again for more five centuries, and when they decide to come out again, they will be surrounded.

 **Markab Space**  
 **Tyree System**  
 _ **USS Santos-Dumont:**_

Admiral Marco Rogers just miss the time when everything was easier. Seventeen years ago, he was the first Human to explore beyond the Crescent. Before that, Human society had been in peace for almost 200 years. After that, the USF had to balance on the powder keg that was the galactic politics. A new power, highly advanced and devoid of any previous rivalries with the other species could destabilize the balance of power. And it just had. The Centauri Republic was declining and everyone thought the USF would fill the power vacuum. Surprisingly, for them, the USF didn't. They just hadn't understood yet that the USF has no interest in any of their worlds or their riches or their technology. Humans are explorers now, not conquerors as they were once. But the power vacuum left had to be filled, and then the Dilgar Imperium applied to. Like a seaquake, they moved fast and deadly with their blitzkrieg tactics and, in less than nine months, they have occupied and enslaved almost all of the League worlds.

Rogers was there now in his ship, the USS Santos-Dumont, with the last free authority figures of the League races and, God forgive him for saying it, they were a pain in the ass. Even facing extinction they couldn't set aside their differences and just work together. They can kill themselves if they want to, but couldn't they do it after defeating the Dilgar? It was getting too annoying. The Gaim hive-queen just didn't want her room to be on the same deck as a Vree's. The Markab Girda was so pious that she started preaching that the Dilgar invasion was 'the gods manifesting their wrath on you. O, immoral souls'. When Mara asked her if she was immoral too since she is suffering the Dilgar invasion like all of the others, she seemed confused, as if the very idea of being immoral herself was totally foreign to her. And the Vree master tried to buy every piece of technology he saw. The last time Rogers said 'no', when he was trying to convince him to sell the warp core, he just signed some kind of bank check and gave to him, saying ' _make your price, I'll pay._ ' Rogers sighed. And he thought the Abbai matriarch would be an easy one. But then she told him that, being a semi-aquatic race, she needed a pool or pond of some kind to swim. Rogers just programmed a room with a pool in the holodeck and said it was a special room for Humans to swim. She has been swimming in holographic water for days and hasn't complained yet.

The Santos-Dumont has been in this system waiting for a whole day. They were cloaked, so no concern about being found. The last forces of the League races were rallying there and he was responsible to deliver their leaders to them.

"Sir, I'm detecting jump points opening 40 thousand kilometers from us." Said Melian.

"Is that the League fleet?"

"Aye, sir. I detect Brakiri, Abbai, Drazi, Markab and Vree configurations."

"Where is the rest?" Said the pilot, Steven Martin, who was ignored. Lucas received his own ship two years ago, and Rogers just hadn't warmed up with Martin yet.

A beep from his chair's arm console got his attention. He had a transmission.

"They probably just got late, Martin. Takeru, call the League leaders, they will probably want to talk to them. I'll be in my ready room answering a call. Melian, you have the bridge."

"Aye, sir."

He went to the Captain's ready room attached to the bridge. Sitting at his office table, he sighed before tapping the screen. A holographic representation of Admiral Martin appeared in front of him.

"Admiral Martin."

"Rogers, are the League leaders well and sound?"

Rogers just sighed.

"They complain a lot, but they are very comfortable."

"They're politicians, they are supposed to complain." Admiral Martin said with a laugh. "Anyways, the Command has already drawn a preliminary action plan. The expeditionary fleet will be sent to your location. From there you will coordinate the League fleets to free the Vree space."

"Aye, sir. We are jus-" His comm badge beeped, He tapped it. "What is it."

Melian's voice came from the badge.

"Sir, we have more than one hundred jump points opening not far from us, the rest of the League fleet hasn't arrived yet."

Rogers looked to Admiral Martin.

"You know what to do." The Admiral said. "You need to hold the system until our fleet arrives. And the survival of the leaders is of great importance."

"Tell them to be quick." He said and walked to the door.

"Marco." The Admiral called. Rogers turned to him. "Keep my son alive." He said, ending the transmission.

Rogers smirked and entered the bridge, looking at the viewscreen while the League leaders stayed in the back.

"Report."

"A Dilgar fleet just jumped from hyperspace, sir. Seven hundred and twelve ships of standard Dilgar configuration. Mainly battlecruisers and corvettes. Weapons range in four minutes." Melian answered while adjusting her ear-address nervously.

"Us?"

"Three hundred and four ships. The rest of the League fleet didn't arrive, we should assume they were intercepted."

"What about our fleet?"

"Sixteen minutes, sir." Takeru said.

"Red Alert. Raise shields. Prepare to engage."

"Sir, I'm getting strange readings from the Dilgar ships." Her eyes widened. "They are raising shields, sir! Shield configuration, Abbai!"

Rogers cursed, Abbai shields worth nothing against his ship, but are very effective against the League races' weaponry. Though the Santos-Dumont is undeniably more powerful than anything in the system, it is still just one ship.

"Melian, find some weak spot on those shields. Takeru, order the League fleet to follow my lead. And, no, Madame Girda, I don't care if they are not supposed to obey an 'immoral infidel' such as myself."

They all obeyed him, while the Markab Girda just stared at him open-mouthed.

"Weapon range in one minute."

"Martin, they use laser weaponry, it means that their beams travel at lightspeed. Be ready to evasive maneuvers. Our shields may be tough, but let's just try to save them as much as we can."

"Aye, sir."

"Mara, try to hack into their systems, confuse their sensors, make them have a hard time locking into the League ships."

"Aye, sir."

"Senna, lock photon and quantum torpedoes, let's break their formation."

"Yes, sir."

"And, Takeru." Rogers looked at him.

"Sir?" He asked

"Just tell the fleet to hurry the hell up!"

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 **A/N: Ok, that is the second chapter, enjoy. I hope it is good.**


	9. Chapter 3: Turning Tide

**A/N: Third chapter. I hope you enjoy.**

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 **Chapter 3**

 **"The Turning Tide"**

 **Markab Space**  
 **Tyree System**  
 _ **USS Santos-Dumont:**_

"Report. I wanna know what they have."

Melian tapped her consoles, holographic projections of the Dilgar ships appeared in front of her.

"I'm detecting a variety of weapons from different races, sir. Yolu plasma weapons, Vree antimatter cannons, Drazi particle beams…"

"They've equipped their ships with the League's most powerful weaponry," Takeru said, frowning. "It won't be easy."

"Weapons range, they are firing, sir. One light-second," Melian said.

"Evasive maneuvers."

The ship evaded the beams quickly. Martin was good, Rogers had to give him that. He dodged most of the Dilgar lasers with relative ease, while other just brushed the ship's shields

"Missiles, ten seconds."

"Lock phasers, destroy them before they reach the League fleet."

Quickly, reddish beams of death were shot from the Santos-Dumont's phaser arrays, the missiles exploding from distance. The League fleet was firing everything they had, but some missiles managed to hit their targets, the shockwaves shaking the ship.

Rogers frowned. They needed to stop defending and start attacking, 23 ships had been destroyed or heavily damaged already, they had to hit the Dilgar hard.

"Sir," Melian said, horrified. "I… I'm detecting alien lifeforms in the Dilgar ships, at least ten in each ship. Abbai, Vree, Drazi…"

"Why would the Dilgar have aliens on their ships? Are they working with for them?"

"Prisoners," Senna answered Takeru. "They're prisoners. The Dilgar are using them as human shields."

"Dammit. They know we can detect them, but not beam them all to safety," Rogers sighed. "Takeru, tell the League fleet about the prisoners. Senna, target only their ships' engines and weapon systems, try not to destroy them."

"Aye, sir."

"Admiral Rogers," called the Brakiri ambassador. "While we appreciate your concern towards our people, you must remember that this is a war zone. Our priority is to survive until _your_ fleet comes, as well as to have destroyed the most Dilgar vessels we can by then. I worry for my people too, but know that we have the chance to save our civilizations, they don't.

Rogers stared at him angrily. The ship shook again as one more nuclear missile exploded nearby. He closed his eyes.

"Takeru, hail the League fleet. Tell them... to ignore the prisoners."

Takeru stared at him open-mouthed.

"A-Aye, sir."

Rogers passed his fingers through his hair. He was sweating, but he knew what to do.

"Melian, can our teleporter signal bypass their Abbai shields?"

She looked at him, confused. Then she widened her eyes, nodding and starting to work with her consoles.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Martin, set course to the carrier at the bottom of the Dilgar fleet, micro-jump."

"Aye, sir."

"Engage."

The Santos-Dumont disappeared as it stretched forward accelerating beyond lightspeed, reappearing behind the fleet, close to a Dilgar carrier.

"Tractor beam, lock them. Martin, behind the League fleet, micro-jump."

"What are you doing?" demanded the Brakiri ambassador, who was ignored. The tractor beam locked at the carrier three times the size of the Santos-Dumont. The ship stretched forward again, reappearing a fraction of second later behind the League fleet with the Dilgar carrier in its lock.

"Beam the crew to open space. We are going to battle now. Melian, you'll work alongside the Teleporter Room to beam every prisoner we can to that empty carrier, beam some medical personnel too, I want them treated."

"Aye, sir."

"Martin, a quarter impulse, let's cut through their formation. Takeru, what about our fleet?"

"Six minutes, sir."

"Good. Senna, deploy armor. It's our turn, now."

 **Abbai Command Battleship** ** _Revenge of Ssumssha:_**

The Abbai fleet captain, Hanika Miral, looked at the Santos-Dumont with awe as its hull glowed blue and, piece by piece, a full armor appeared on the ship, which went forward firing its reddish beam weapons that cut through the Dilgar hulls as if they were butter. Thinking that an entire fleet of those powerful vessels was on the way to help them filled her heart with hope. They said they will try to teleport the most prisoners to the carrier they left behind her fleet. To think that the Dilgar were capable of such tactics, fill their ships with her people and others so they would hesitate in attacking them. Monsters.

She looked at the Santos-Dumont again. Its shields were a marvel, way more powerful than anything the Abbai could have built. With their help, she would return to her motherworld, Ssumssha, or as the other races called it, Abba IV. She saw it fall, she would see it be retaken. Hanika looked again at the Santos-Dumont as it fired three glowing blue, pulsating orbs that traveled at extremely high speeds, the explosions resulted from their impact vaporizing every Dilgar ship at the explosion range. Hanika knew they were called quantum torpedoes, while the red ones were called photon torpedoes, but she didn't know what they were exactly. Though her ship's sensors could recognize a photon torpedo explosion as an antimatter explosion, the same couldn't be said by their blue cousins. Their sensors just couldn't get what kind of energy they released. The same with the so-called phasers. She knew they were some sort of particle beam, but the particles used were just unrecognizable.

Her ship shook again, knocking her off the captain's chair and injuring some of her crewmembers.

"Great Mother!" she said. "What happened?"

"My lady, a missile just hit our left shield generator, we have a gap in our shield," one of her officers said, terrified.

"Rotate weapons to cover the gap."

"Yes, milady."

The ship shook again. One of her officers fell to the floor, hitting her head.

"We are encircled! Three Dilgar corvettes are closing to our position, weapons locked."

"Break their lock."

"I can't!" the crewmember responded, the ship shaking again an instant later.

Hanika looked at the Dilgar ships. Their weapons firing at them, breaking their shields, the ship shaking. Maybe she wouldn't see the motherworld again. She closed her eyes, waiting for the embrace of the Great Mother.

But it never came. Three reddish energy beams cut through the Dilgar ship, breaking them to pieces while the Human ship that fired at them slowed down stopping beside her ship.

"It's the Humans, they're here," said one of her officers. "They're hailing us."

"Onscreen."

The viewscreen showed a beautiful Human woman sitting at the center of her bridge.

"This is Captain Diana Vaz of the USF starship Europa. We've extended our shields to protect your ship. Do you need medical assistance?"

Hanika just sighed in relief.

"Yes, please."

Captain Vaz nodded, ending the transmission. Soon after, she saw Humans carrying what looked like medical equipment materialize in the bridge and taking care of her injured comrades. Hanika then looked back at the viewscreen. Dozens of Human ships of various designs were appearing in flashes of light like dancing stars, their weapons fire cutting through the Dilgar ships like knives through flesh.

"Report," she said. "How many ships?"

"One hundred and four Human ships, my lady," the officer said, grinning. "They are causing heavy damage to the Dilgar fleet."

"Thank the Mother," Hanika sighed.

She would live to see her motherworld again.

 **USS Unity  
 _Conference Room:_**

The Conference Room of the Unity was huge, even to Starfleet standards. The ship was an Odyssey-class, just beautifully designed. At the conference table were sat Rogers, his science officer, Melian, his tactical officer, Taron Senna, and his chief doctor, Anastasia Petrova. He could see some familiar faces such as Admiral Luis Torres, the commanding officer of this ship, as well as Captain Diana Vaz of the Europa, Tommaso Bianchi of the Seraphim, and Samuel Ishida of the Marston. Occupying the largest portion of the table were the leaders he has been escorting, as well as the highest-ranking officers of the League fleets.

At the aftermath of the battle, they had destroyed more than five hundred Dilgar ships. In the end, the remainder withdrew with what they had left, disappearing into hyperspace. Thinking about what they did, using their prisoners as shields, made Rogers' stomach revolve in disgust. The Dilgar leaders had no honor, no care for life at all. He pitied the Dilgar people for having leaders such as Jha'dur.

Meanwhile, Hanika Miral was looking at the conference room in awe. This ship was no larger than an Abbai battlecruiser, actually, most Human ships were not larger than a Brakiri Avioki, though they were certainly comparable if not more powerful than a Minbari Sharlin, yet, they were so spacious in the interior. That's because they had no thick layers of armor like all the other warships she knew of. Actually, their ships were not even dedicated to war! According to Captain Vaz, most of the Human ships were multi-task vessels, capable of engaging battle, as well as exploring and doing scientific research.

She looked at the Humans at the edge of the table. She would be eternally in debt to the Humans. They didn't have to, but they did intervene.

Hanika was taken from her thoughts when Doctor Anastasia Petrova called for their attention. She stood up and took a padd on his hand.

"Well," she said. "We just finished giving first aid to all the rescued prisoners. We were able to teleport from the Dilgar ships a number of 7713 individuals of all League races. Of those... well, 367 couldn't resist their injuries."

She paused, letting the information settle.

"We just saved about seven thousand? Out of more than nine thousand?" Admiral Rogers asked.

"Yes, sir. Unfortunately, we were not capable of beaming every one to safety before the Dilgar withdrew. Also, many died when we destroyed the ships they were in, as sometimes it was inevitable for us to do."

Rogers nodded. The room was again in silence. All of them feeling the disgust expanding inside their throats.

"There is another problem, sir," said Anastasia.

"What is it?"

"They..." she paused. "They are dying, sir."

Everyone in the room stared at her confusedly. She continued.

"They are showing heavy symptoms of drug withdraw. We discovered that they were being addicted for the last months to a substance we don't know. Our councilors were able to say, from what they heard from the prisoners who were willing to talk, that this was deliberate. It is a Dilgar policy. The prisoners were being used as slave labor in the Dilgar war industries. They addict their captives so they will work extremely hard to reach the daily quotas at the Dilgar mines and factories and then receive a shot as some kind of "prize". According to some of the captured Dilgar soldiers, the drug was invented by Jha'dur herself, addicting the slaves, she would have total control over them. Also, they are suffering from extreme fatigue and our exams indicate that the drug also dulled their capability of getting tired to enhance their productivity."

"This is barbaric," said Admiral Torres.

"That's not all," continued Anastasia. "According to our exams, after five to six months of use, or just when they stop taking the shots, they start to suffer a kind of physiological decay. Their body functions are just falling apart."

"You've got so much information from the Dilgar soldiers? Impressive," said the Brakiri ambassador. "Your interrogation techniques must be very advanced."

Anastasia looked at him, trying to control her anger."

"Not actually, mister ambassador," she said. "It was easy because many of the Dilgar soldiers we captured are no more than traumatized and scared children who were pushed to a war they didn't want by a sadistic dictator."

"You are defending those monsters?" snapped Hanika.

"I'm just stating the truth," Anastasia answered with a cold glare. "The possibility of an entire civilization supporting a same government or policy without questioning it is extremely low, if not impossible. There is always opposition, rebels, dissidents. Actually, we count on meeting those dissidents during this war, we'll need them to build a stable post-war Dilgar state."

Hanika looked at her not believing what she was hearing. She looked at the other leaders and officers of other League races and she saw that they were thinking the same as her. They will let the Dilgar live! After all they've done! What do they think? The Dilgar must be destroyed! Wiped out of history, it is the only way herself and her people would be able to forget.

"You cannot do that," she finally said. "They must pay, not be nurtured."

Captain Diana Vaz looked at her with sad eyes.

"What do you think of us, Ms. Miral?" she asked.

"I... well..." she paused." I respect you, you are an enlightened, advanced people, merciful and diplomatic."

"Well," Diana said, looking directly inside Hanika's eyes. "What if I told you that we were once like the Dilgar. Bloodthirsty, cruel. What if I told you that we did as many atrocities as they did. But not to other races, no. We did terrible things to our own people. Everything the Dilgar have done so far, be certain, we've done the same once. And yet here we are. The 'enlightened', 'merciful' people you say we are."

Hanika just stared at her, confused. Diana continued.

"In dire situations, people do terrible things, people let terrible things be done. Did you know that Omelos' sun is dying? Did you know that in less than two years their sun will go supernova and destroy their planet?"

Everyone in the room, except the Humans, stared at her in astonishment. They didn't know.

"Of course," Diana continued. "I'm not saying it as an excuse. But, think, if the Dilgar had asked for your help, would you help them? Would you really help them, and not just take advantage of them?"

Hanika looked at the floor. She knows they wouldn't, even her people wouldn't. She looked at the others and noticed they thought the same. But then she looked at the Humans and given their expressions she knew they would have helped. Why they would, while herself couldn't, she didn't know.

"Hanika, and all the others too," Diana said looking around the room. "After all of this, you should take an interest in Earth's history. You'll understand why we had two world wars in less than twenty-five years. The first one ended with the winners imposing humiliating and extremely wearing sanction at the loser, Germany. Twenty years later, the tension created by this humiliation gave birth to an ideology not different from the Dilgar's. It sparkled a second world war, worst than the previous one. This time, we had learned from our mistakes. We understood that people without hope turn to tyrants and dictators. We gave the Germans hope. We helped them rebuild, we helped them stand up again. Decades later, Germany was one of the richest and freest nations on Earth, their people were peaceful and tolerant. That was possible because, instead of degrading them more, instead of wiping them out, we gave to the good people among them a chance to stand up. The Dilgar will have that chance too, whether you want it or not. "

Hanika just stared at her. 'Why would they help?', she had asked herself. Now she knew.

 **Dilgar Imperium  
Omelos**

The Glorious Leader of the Dilgar People, Warmaster Jha'dur, read the reports from all over the occupied space with a less than satisfied frown. The defeat in Tyree was a disaster, a mistake she could not repeat. It was a good plan, she knew it was, but sometimes even she could be surprised by the turning events. Jha'dur had known beforehand of the last League fleets rallying at Tyree system, as well as the Human ship deployed to help them. Her intelligence network was vast, extending to all League space, as well as Centauri and even Minbari space, but she just couldn't extend it to the Crescent. Her only asset in Human space, ambassador Cha'sar, was not useful anymore. She planned to attack the League fleet by surprise, destroy it and, if possible, capture the Human ship and bring it to Omelos for studying. It was all running well, the other two groups heading to Tyree were attacked and destroyed at Silkan and T'Lad'tha, denying the League fleet more than four hundred ships. The battle in Tyree went well, her plan of carrying prisoners in the warships working out, as the Human ship and many League ships could be seen hesitating in the recordings. But, she admitted, she had underestimated the Human ships. The one called Santos-Dumont fought like a demon, destroying dozens of her ships, resisting their firepower with relative ease. The deployable armor she saw them using, as well as their shields and weapons, were marvels she would kill to have a chance of analyzing. What the Dilgar could do with this kind of technology! They would conquer the stars!

The battle in Tyree went well for a while, her plan of carrying prisoners in the warships working out, as the Human ship and many League ships could be seen hesitating in the recordings. But, she admitted, she had underestimated the Human ships. The one called Santos-Dumont fought like a demon, destroying dozens of her ships, resisting their firepower with relative ease. The deployable armor she saw them using, as well as their shields and weapons, were marvels she would kill to have a chance of analyzing. What the Dilgar could do with this kind of technology! They would conquer the stars! She thought the Humans were slightly below, if not at the level of the Minbari, now she knew better. They were the most advanced race she has ever seen. Because of that, they must be defeated at all costs. She had already received reports from all over the occupied space. The fleet that came to their rescue in Tyree, the one she didn't foresee, was now wreaking havoc to her lines. In less than a month, the Vree, Markab, Tikar and Tokati space had been lost. She knows they are now fighting her forces at Yolu space. To add to her current problems, the Narns attacked her forces in Hyach and Drazi space. That

To add to her current problems, the Narns attacked her forces in Hyach and Drazi space. That was an unexpected turn of events. She had attacked the Narns at the beginning of the war, giving them a heavy blow in Halax IV and terrifying them with her bioweapons. Afterwards, the Narn called for peace, just as she planned. The attack on the Narns was a cooperation between the Centauri and the Dilgar. The Dilgar would weaken them for the Centauri to come with full force, while the Centauri would sell the Dilgar weapons, provide information and not interfere in their war with the League. It was a good plan, the Centauri were supposed to attack the Narns now, but their plans Narn-hating Emperor Corvan III unexpectedly died with no male children, leading his uncle, the peace-loving fool Turhan, to ascend to the throne. Turhan cut relations with the Dilgar and opened talks with the Narns, making them confident enough to attack her people. Jha'dur was sure he would contact the Humans and probably offer them help in defeating her.

Jha'dur frowned annoyed. The Human interference was a disaster she hadn't time to prepare for. It was inevitable, she knew it, but it came too quickly. She is keeping the people from learning of their defeats in the occupied space, but word spread like water and she just can't contain it forever. Her enemies in the government and the dissidents hiding in the shadows were already spreading their influence at her expense.

Jha'dur looked at the data crystal on her desk. Her people and her research were the most important things to her. Sitting at her desk again, she opened the unlocked the drawer and opened it, taking a small device. The object was the size of the Human tricorder she wanted to analyze. It had a biometric lock. She put her fingerprints on it, opening the device, revealing a red button. Jha'dur stared at the button with fierce eyes. She would rather see the Dilgar dead before they become weak.

 **United Systems Federation  
Celestis  
 _Aeolia, capital of the Free Celestian Federation:_**

Darkness was all that Montal could see. His body felt dizzy, his head ached, and yet he felt some comfort. Peace was not a sensation he had felt for the last months, not truly, at least. Between unending hours of work and the sweet pleasure of Ket running through his bloodstream, there was only pain. He knew that the drug was no friend of his, but he couldn't care less. Whoever developed it had a degenerate mind, yet very pragmatic thinking. Ketracel, or Ket as they called it, was the drug the Dilgar gave them. After a shot, they would work as hard as they could to feel it again. No family, no friends, no freedom was more important. Ket was made to enhance productivity and control the prisoners, Montal knew that. But to the prisoners themselves, its main appeal was the feelings it induced. Ket numbs the senses, carries you out of reality, it takes you to a fantasy of peace and love, it gives you hope. Sure, Ket kills you, that's true, but dying was a luxury to those who were slaves in the Dilgar labor camps. They did everything to maintain you alive, thus Ket was the only joy you would find, not even the embrace of death was an option.

Montal realized he wasn't aware. He must be sleeping or in a coma. He opened his eyes slowly, the light blinding him for a moment, forcing him to close his eyes again. He tried again, his eyes getting used to the lights. He started to hear beeps. His surroundings were mostly white, with glass and holographic screens all over the place. A hospital of sorts? Probably. He got up from the bed he was on, walking towards the window. He looked jumping back soon after in shock, his body protesting in pain. He looked at the window again. He must be in a very tall building, he couldn't see the ground, only a layer of clouds that extended to the horizon. Far from where he was, he could see what looked like a group of towers raising from the clouds. Probably a city.

"You're awake," said a beautiful and feminine voice.

Montal turned to the voice, seeing a beautiful Human female with white clothes and some kind of electronic padd on her hands. She smiled at him, and he felt he could trust her.

"Good Morning, Mr. Montal. I'm Nurse Adalind Hale. I'll be taking care of you for the time you'll be here."

"Where am I?" Montal asked.

"You are in Celestis, a Human world."

"What am I doing at Human space?"

She frowned, uncomfortable.

"Well," she said. "You were rescued from the Dilgar. Humanity is in a state of war with them. We just couldn't let them do all those atrocities."

"My world," he asked a confused Nurse Hale. "What happened to my world, Brakir."

She smiled sadly.

"Well, Brakir suffered at the hands of the Dilgar. But it is safe now. Brakir has been liberated a month ago."

Montal sighed in relief. His people were not suffering anymore. He looked at the window again. His curiosity aroused.

"How high is this building?" he asked, looking at the clouds where the ground should be. "I just can't see the ground."

She tried to hold her laugh, but Montal could see it anyway.

"There is no ground," she answered, smiling. "Celestis is a gas giant. For reasons we don't know, it has a layer that has just the right amount of sunlight, the right pressure and gravity, and the right atmosphere to sustain Human life. We are in Aeolia, one of the many floating cities on the planet."

Montal looked at her again, astonished. She was so kind, her smile so gentle. He looked at the window again. And for the first time in months, he felt hope.


	10. Chapter 4: Discoveries

**A/N: I just realized that the timeline I built had some inconsistencies. I will be updating it while posting new chapters to make it more accurate. So I decided to anticipate the Human-Minbari contact, as well as the discovery of Mass Effect. I will also try to maintain the temporal paradox that related to Valen.**

 **Well, enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **"Discoveries"**

 **Year 2516**

 **Minbari Federation  
Minbar  
City of Yedor, Capital of Minbar**

Lenonn hadn't slept well in the previous nights. He was the Anla'Shok'Na, his duty was to ensure the safety of the Minbari people and guarantee their readiness to when the Dark Ones return, which according to Valen's prophecy would happen soon. Yet, now, a new issue rise on the horizon. For centuries the Minbari have isolated themselves, keeping their contact with the younger races the least they could. _We have been ahead of them for a thousand years, we will still be for a thousand years to come_. This is what most Minbari think and it is a mindset so engraved into their very identity that even Lenonn had difficult to believe otherwise. Not anymore.

For the last cycles, the little contact they had with the younger races was enough to raise his concerns. Rumors from alien traders and some sporadic alien diplomatic missions flooded Lenonn with reports from Anla'Shok from all over Minbari space. Rumors about a new race that claimed the Atlanti Crescent as their place of origin, with technology beyond anything they've ever seen. Lenonn dismissed the rumors as that, rumors only. Regardless, he sent his rangers to gather information on the Humans with the Centauri, the Narn, and the League races.

The report he received afterward just seemed plain false. No race should have this kind of technology, and yet different sources from different races just gave similar pieces of information. But what surprised him the most was that the report said the Humans were capable of detecting their intel ship, which has much of its power used to power a powerful stealth field! The ship was not only detected easily but the Humans hailed them too, locking on the ship as they probably saw their silence as a threat. His surprised intelligence team was just taken out of their stupor when they saw that the Humans locked on them, choosing to depart the system immediately. That made Lenonn worried. In less than a day he was the giving all the information he had to the first member of the Nine he could arrange a meeting with, Satai Coplann.

"This is impossible," he said after reading the report. "My time is precious, Lenonn. To waste it is a disrespect not only to myself but to the Grey Council as a whole."

"Satai," Lenonn asked calmly. "What is it that you say is impossible?"

"Everything," Satai Coplann snapped at him, looking at the report one more time. "Energy shields better than the Abbai's? Teleportation better than the Vree's? Antimatter reactors better than the Centauri's? Fully functional artificial gravity even in small shuttles? Energy weapons unrecognizable to our sensors? That is not only impossible but blatantly false! To think that the Anla'Shok, once the pride of Valen, have fallen so far..."

"You offend me and all the ones who have sworn an oath to protect Minbar, Satai Coplann," Lenonn said with a calm yet dangerous tone. "Our information is legitimate."

"Asking around the younger races is far from a reliable source. Lenonn, we are the most advanced among the younger races-"

"And yet these Humans were capable of locking into a Minbari intel-ship with its stealth field at maximum."

"Your subordinates probably were just incompetent and forgot to activate the field. No younger race can lock through our stealth systems."

"I believe we are falling behind, Satai. If a younger race can develop such technologies, then maybe it can go against us. If they can, then we will worth nothing when we fight the Shadows."

"Again with this? We are the best among them. The Vorlons told us this, they told us that we will be the first of a new group of First Ones. Our superiority is not only our doing but a gift from them and denying our superiority is denying them," he sighed. "Lenonn, if there is one thing I know, it is that if something is impossible to Minbari knowledge, it is either the doing of First Ones, either impossible. Those Humans are surely no First Ones, therefore your report is wrong."

Satai Morann turned around and walked away from Lenonn, the latter stood there in silence. Such arrogance. And it was widespread.

On the way back to the Anla'Shok Temple, he could not help but think about what Satai Coplann had said about the Anla'Shok. They had fallen so far indeed, but not the way he thinks. Their importance went down to nothing over the centuries. Many Minbari, including Coplann and others among the Nine, don't believe in Valen's prophecies. The Anla'Shok themselves were now made up of old, tired men and the Council had not dissolved them only due to respect to Valen's memory. Their arrogance, their comfort in being the most advanced among the younger races move them now.

After the incident with the intel ship, the Humans tried to contact the Minbari on several times asking for the opening of diplomatic relations with them. The Grey Council, of course, ignored their requests.

However, everything came back with the Dilgar War. The Dilgar had been wreaking havoc over the League races for months when a transmission from the Crescent was received by every government in known space, including the Minbari. The Humans had declared war on the Dilgar to force them to stop their atrocities. A noble act, he might add. And while the Grey Council ignored it as ' _issues of lesser races_ ', Lenonn knew the Minbari would need all the help for when the Shadows come.

Lenonn sighed, looking at the waterfalls out his window, Yedor as shinning and as beautiful as ever. The Anla'Shok were the only ones with their attention on the Shadows. Their people would need it.

 **United Systems Federation  
Valinoran Fellowship  
Valinor  
City of Númenor**

Beautifully, the sun rose in the sky of Númenor. The capital of Valinor was not as big as some cities throughout the USF, but it was as imposing as any other. For what Londo Mollari has learned so far, the Valinorans were a serene people who enjoyed serenity. Only half of their population of 2,5 billion lived in cities, as most of them had not more than one hundred thousand inhabitants. The Valinorans thrived in small villages in beautiful plains and hills or close to woodlands. With three million people, Númenor was only so big to their standards because it was their capital. The city looked like it was grown through the waterfalls. It had many trees and green areas, terraces, waterfalls, and canals. As many of this planet's trees were high, thick and very resistant, the Valinorans have built platforms and buildings around them, adding to the odd cityscape. Londo could see that the Valinorans liked curves, instead of straight lines, with very naturalistic and rich decorations, elegant and graceful.

Londo was amazed by such beauty. He has been in Human space for almost three months, so far. Before Emperor Turhan's rise to the throne, the Centauri Republic had been extremely cautious in engaging in formal diplomatic relations with the Humans, isolating itself, preparing for a series of expansionist campaigns. Turhan's decision of aborting such plans was met with raised eyebrows from much of the Centaurum, and Londo himself. Now he understands. Seeing the news about the Dilgar, he could see the Republic in the same situation had it followed the previous plan and allied them, the Centauri would be a Human protectorate and Centauri Prime an occupied world. The Emperor decided that, as the appointed liaison to the United Systems Federation, Londo should have a tour through all of the USF's twenty-seven member-planets.

He had already visited five, not counting Valinor. Asgard was a beauty with its golden towers and snowy peaks but too cold to his taste. Thermidor was a tropical paradise that reminded him of the island of Selini in Centauri Prime with its turquoise beaches and white sand, Londo loved to spend the holidays in the island when he was just a boy and Thermidor just brought back these memories from his childhood. Celestis was too odd to be true, and he heard it isn't the only one. Aquaria was the same, with its worldwide ocean and sparkling underwater cities. Eldaron was almost as cold as Asgard, while its cities featured organic-shaped metallic towers. This world was the oddest in some ways. It looked less advanced, more provincial. Yet, Londo noticed that its people enjoyed the same technological advancement just like all the other Humans he had seen.

The car he was in was flying rather slowly. Londo had ordered it to. He wanted to see the city as he had yet another hour before his flight to the next planet, Cortesa. Earth, the Human homeworld, would the last stop, but Londo was unhurried. He was enjoying the trip. The varied Human architectures and cultures were not the only things he liked. As he already knew, their technology was amazing, to say the least, but only now could he experience it properly. The replicators were a wonder and he had missed that since the first contact with the USS Santos-Dumont. The human economy was too egalitarian to his taste, but it looked like it worked. Technology allowed them to give a very comfortable life even to the lowborn and it probably devalued the privilege of being born in the aristocracy.

Londo tapped the small screen at the door, and holographic screen appearing in front of him.

" _...voted for lending the League races a number of industrial replicators to help them rebuild after the hardship of Dilgar invasion. Also, according to the President of the Parliament, Anée Eko-5, the efforts to pacify Omelos are showing the expected results. The provisory government installed after the deposition of Jha'dur and the Treaty of Immata declared that they are ready to form a constituent assembly and draft a new Dilgar constitution. Meanwhile, the USF and the Dilgar Provisory Government are rushing with their efforts to evacuate Omelos and nearby planets and facilities to a new planet the USF terraformed especially for them. Omelos' sun is expected to go supernova in the next year, and by then..._ "

Londo was not surprised by the news. Any other race would have let the Dilgar go extinct, the wisest decision, he might add. But not those Humans, they decided for saving them, even antagonizing some of their allies from the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. Their society was too soft, preaching about 'rules of engagement' and 'human rights'. They were powerful and advanced, he had no doubt, but soft still. For five hundred years they lived isolated, protected inside the Crescent, they don't know what lies in the darkest corners of space. Their morals would be the end of them. He only hoped that, by then, the Centauri would have been largely benefited by their technology. To acquire it would be his first priority.

 **United Systems Federation  
Orbit of Mordor  
 _Mordor Station:_**

Lucas Monteiro was amazed by the view. Out the window, he could see the light emanating from the planet below. Mordor's magma seas flowed in all directions, merging molten metal and rock in an amalgam of black, orange, yellow and red. He had been given the command of the Vesta-class USS Tupan about four years ago and, while he had already gotten used to his new position as captain, he missed the crew of the Santos-Dumont.

For more than fifteen years, Starfleet has been exploring the space around the Crescent, its new unofficial motto being 'to boldly go where no man has gone before'. It was a beautiful ideal and he liked what Starfleet was becoming. During the last two hundred years, Starfleet was responsible for defense and scientific research, but exploration was very restricted because of the Act of Isolation, which dates back the time when Earth still had the other Human worlds on a leash. He understands why this isolation was necessary, they time to mature before venturing the universe, to build a stable and prosperous interstellar nation, but now it was time to go see what the universe had to offer.

He had been exploring for years now when Starfleet Command called him back. He and three more ships were assigned to Mordor to help Captain Dmitri Volkov with a research project.

Lucas got his attention back to the conference table. He could see captains and officers from all the three ships called to Mordor Station, as well as the station's chief staff, by the table. At the center, a holographic projection appeared, rotating slowly. Lucas couldn't define what was it. The object was made of two long curved metal arms surrounding a set of revolving, gyroscopic rings that contained an odd blue-glowing core of some kind.

"What is it that you're showing us," Lucas asked, confused.

"We don't know either," said Captain Volkov. "As you all know, since our first venture beyond the Crescent, Starfleet has been studying the nature and properties of Jumpspace. The nature of the Crescent in jumpsace, the way it behaves compared to subspace, all of that. Our studies have been quite enriching and, sometime after the Battle of Tyree, we had gained enough knowledge to adjust our subspace sensors to allow us to scan jumpspace from commonspace and vice-versa. The specifications were distributed to all the fleet and now all of our ships can scan jumpsace."

He paused

"But there is a catch. Jumpscace is a dimension divided into many layers one deeper than the other. The deeper the layer, the harder it is to scan it. We already can scan deeper than any race could travel through, but there will always be a deeper layer, a blind spot in our security, and the prospects of some race traveling through it. Therefore, we decided to keep pushing our limits, that's how we discovered this," he pointed the hologram. "The object is fifteen kilometers long and the rotating glowing orb is a reactor run by element zero."

"Element zero?" asked Captain Anna Mormont, of the USS Crete. She looked at the others. "I've read about it. A report about traces of a rare material of atomic number zero found on Mordor. This 'element zero', as they called it, has the odd property of releasing dark energy which can be manipulated into a field that can raise or lower the mass of an object."

"Exactly, Captain Mormont. However the traces we found were very scarce, we were able to create a replicator template by analyzing the material's quantum structure. Since then, we have been running experiments by using replicated eezo, that's the nickname we gave it," he explained after seeing Lucas raising his eyebrow.

"And then you discovered an 'eezo'-run reactor in jumpspace just over the same planet where you discovered traces of the element," said Lucas. "What's its function? Is it a weapon?"

"We don't think so," one of the station's science officers stood up. She ran her fingers over the hologram. "See the elongated structures? Our analyses indicate that they function by directing the mass-distorting field forward in a funnel-shaped mass-less corridor."

"Just like the subspace funnels that we use to increase the effective range of our energy weapons. That would theoretically allow a ship to travel almost instantaneously through the corridor to its ending point," Captain Volkov completed.

"And that is...?"

"That is our question," said Captain Volkov. "It doesn't look like it was designed to work _in_ jumpsace, so we presume its proper place is in commonspace. Our sensors indicate that it is old, as in millions of years old. We believe that the mass relay, as we called it, connects to one or more of the same artifacts and that it's part of an ancient transit network.

"And you want us to explore through this 'relay'," said Captain Jackson Hart, of the USS Curie.

"Exactly. The relay was already taken out of jumpspace. It is anchored to its place to the subatomic level, but we were able to tractor it to an uninhabited system for safety reasons. So far our efforts to activate it were useless. We expect you to help us figure it out.

 **United Systems Federation  
Novan Ecumene  
Nova Prime**

To say that Londo Mollari was enjoying his tour in Human space would be an understatement. On Cortesa, one of the most beautiful planets he has ever seen, his staff basically had to force him to enter the ship and go to the next planet. He just loved every aspect of the planet and didn't want to go. Cortesa was comparable to Centauri Prime in a way, looking like the seat of a powerful monarch with its beautiful beige buildings with turquoise domes, as well as wide gardens and amazing waterfalls and canals.

While the elevator moved up the highest tower he has ever seen with amazing speed, Londo looked out the transparent wall that allowed him to see the whole city. Nova Prime was not a Human world he liked. Too much colorful lights, metal, and glass. No, not glass. Transparinum, they called it. Some kind of transparent metal that, according to the Humans, is harder than diamond and is used on their ships' windows.

He looked back to the city. The towers went high enough to cut through the clouds, the flying traffic running busy in between on several different levels. It was almost dusk and he could see the gas giant Nova Prime orbits, Nyx, occupying a large portion of the sky.

The elevator stopped, opening its door. Londo entered the room, an office. By the desk sat Admiral Martin, frowning as he looked at some screen. He looked up.

"Ah, Mr. Mollari," he said, standing up to shake his hand. "It is good you came. Please sit. Are you enjoying the tour so far?"

"Be sure I am, Admiral. Your planets are as beautiful as they are diverse."

"I am happy you are appreciating our culture."

"It's a pleasure," he paused. "Now, Admiral. Perhaps you could tell me why have you arranged for this meeting."

Admiral Martin nodded. He tapped a screen on his desk and a holographic star map appeared over it.

"Well. Following our victory against the Dilgar, we've taken advantage of the goodwill of other worlds to expand peacefully. We've made trade deals with the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. Most of the races have been very receptive to our advances, others downright hostile. But a few are still a mystery to us," he looked up directly into Londo's eyes. "What do you know about a race called Minbari."

Londo's smile fell slowly from his face.

"Well, we had some dealings with them in the past, but nothing in recent years. Why?" he answered uncomfortably.

"After our declaration of war against the Dilgar, we communicated our decision to all known governments, including the Minbari. Their answer was only silence. But that's not all, just before and during the war, we came across small crystalline ships spying on us. When we hailed them, they just departed the system with no explanation. We followed those ships until they reached Minbari space, what just proved their identity," he paused. "We are thinking about sending an expedition to their borders to see if they pose a threat to us. We understand that fully a third of their population is dedicated to warfare."

"Well, they have a warrior caste," Londo said, forcing a smile. "Not exactly the same thing, huh?"

"Semantics. We want to know all we can about them."

"I can give you the information, Admiral. But I advise you not to send an expedition. It could be perceived as a threat."

"Are they so dangerous?"

"Yes, Admiral, they are. You are very advanced, but the Minbari are one of the oldest space-faring races. Even at the height of the Centauri Republic, when we were expanding in all directions, we never opposed the Minbari. If you do not bother them, they will not bother you."

Admiral Martin leaned in his chair, thinking.

"We don't plan on bothering anyone, Mollari. We've already tried to open relations with them and they refused. All we want is information on them so we will be prepared if they try something."

Londo sighed.

"Very well, Admiral. You'll have the information you want. Use it wisely."

 **United Systems Federation  
Tulok System**

From the window of the Captain's ready room, Captain Lucas Monteiro looked at the mass relay far from his ship. It was beautifully built with its gleaming metal, rotating rings, and pulsating blue eezo core. He understands why Captain Volkov chose this system to bring the relay to. Tulok System was the first star system outside the Crescent claimed by the USF. The system itself had no value, no planets, no asteroid belt, no important jump route, only a star, and a jumpgate. As if to prove its uselessness, all foreign powers recognized Human claims almost immediately.

Claiming Tulok was more of a symbolic act than a practical one. It symbolized the end of Human isolation. The USF found use to it, though. With the system came its jumpgate, and Starfleet has been using it to conduct experiments to further Human understanding of jumpspace.

The relay's rings started to rotate faster, launching the probe forward at unimaginable speeds in a streak of blue light. That was the fourth probe. Anna theorized that the relay reacted to the presence of an eezo core, she was right. However, they needed some kind of binary base activation code. After hours of research, his and Captain Mormont's team were able to crack the code and activate the relay. Too easily, if he may say so.

Since then they had been sending probes and scanning the nearby systems the other side of the gateway. The relay leads to a large and uninhabited cluster of stars, full of potentially colonizable planets. After the sixth probe, they decided to try something different.

"As much as we know, the eezo core don't see to be much compatible with our subspace based technology. We think that if we program our deflector dishes to mimic the energy signature of an eezo core, maybe we could travel through the relay without eezo," said Captain Mormont's chief science officer.

They tried it. They sent three probes modified by adding a deflector dish. The research team celebrating when the probes were launched forward in a streak of blue.

Lucas was drag back to his thoughts. They were discovering new ways to fly here. He looked at the jumpgate far from his ship. It was an odd way of traveling through the stars and yet the oddest thing about it was its universality. All races Humanity has known so far used jumpspace and hadn't conceived any alternative. Humans, on the other hand, had experimented and tested with dozens of different methods of interstellar travel and, while most were dead ends, Humanity excelled in this area, developing warp and folded space drives, transwarp, quantum slipstream, and even temporal displacement drives, and he also heard about tests with warp travel in jumpspace. Now they discovered this new 'mass effect' drive. Meanwhile no different development among the other races. Odd, indeed.

He entered the bridge, his crew working around him as efficient as ever.

"We are ready, sir," Leo Jenkins, his science officer, said with unsuppressed excitement.

"Good. Marina, take us to the position."

"Aye, sir."

The USS Tupan moved to the mass relay, followed by the Curie and the Crete.

"Jenkins, prepare eezo signal."

"Ready, sir."

Lucas smiled. That is what he was looking for.

"Activate the relay."

"Sending false eezo signal. Activating relay. Sending activation code."

The rings around the relay's glowing eezo core started to rotate faster, launching the three Starfleet vessels to where no man has gone before.

 **Narn Regime  
Narn  
G'Kamazad, Capital of Narn**

For the first time in his entire life, Citizen G'Kar saw the stars in the sky of his home planet. Joyful, he drank a big gulp from the bottle of Ryddi on the tale he was sat by. Human terraforming technologies were marvels, to say the least. For the last two years, their devices have been detecting and teleporting dust particles and pollutants out of the atmosphere and water bodies and using them to replicate new substances so needed by the Narn's biosphere. They were filling the atmosphere with water particles, to balance the planet's water cycle and converting the desert-turned woodlands into woodlands again.

G'Kar watched in joy as his people filled the streets, trading and working, and for the first time, G'Kar felt true hope. The Centauri let his world almost barren. The Narn had to live in the underground or in buildings with air filters. The outside was just too polluted to walk through.

Not anymore.

He was overjoyed by the course of things, seven years was a short time and yet Ambassador Zheng said that the terraforming process will likely take that amount of time. Surprisingly, two years ago she told him that if there weren't people on the planet they could terraform it into a paradise in days by using something she called 'genesis'. He didn't believe her then. He is not so sure now. If the Humans truly had such technology, he was glad they were helping them and not conquering them as the Centauri did.

G'Kar laughed. The Humans looked so much like the Centauri and yet so different. His thoughts turned to his people's traditional enemy. Since Turhan became emperor, the Centauri Republic has shown a far more humble, diplomatic approach. He wasn't fooled, though. The Centauri were probably just wanting to improve relations with the Humans, after seeing what they did for Narn and the League. The Centauri are a treacherous people, they come with a smile and a knife hidden in their mouth. The Narn Regime will be ready when they show their true colors.

"G'Vek, bring me one more bottle of your best Ryddi," G'Kar spoke loudly to the bar's owner.

The same way as the stars of Narn's sky, hope sparkled in the hearts of his people.

 **Minbari Federation  
Orbit of Minbar  
 _Valen'Tha:_**

Delenn still couldn't believe in it. She was at the Council Chambers among the Nine, the highest position a Minbari could ever dream to be. And yet here she was, with her grey hood covering her face. She wasn't formally a member of the Grey Council yet, but she would be soon. And she owed this to Dukhat. He was the best of them, the greatest Minbari since Valen, and yet he saw something in her that even herself couldn't see.

Anla'Shok'Na Lenonn was at the chambers too, speaking to the Council, trying to convince them to prepare for the return of the Shadows, as well as to open communication with the Humans. Satai Coplann of the Warrior Caste was the most vocal against this. 'If the Vorlons don't see the danger, maybe the danger does not exist,' he said to Lenonn, going against his idea of trying to contact the Vorlons and finding proof that the Shadows returned.

"Master," Delenn said, surprising even herself. "If I may. There may be a way to give the others the proof that they require."

"Delenn is not formally a part of this Council," said Coplann. "Now she stands here for Satai Cadronni, she has not yet undergone the ritual. It is inappropriate for her to speak."

Dukhat smirked, eyebrows raised.

"I have never yet known the truth or Delenn to speak only when it is appropriate," he, chuckling before he nodded to her. "Go on, Delenn."

She breathed.

"Valen's said that the Shadows would first return to their homeworld of Z'ha'dum before moving against us. So why not send an expedition to Z'ha'dum to determine if they have indeed returned?"

"The warrior cast will be no part of this," Coplann said. "Our forces are needed here to protect the homeworld. Besides, the journey is long and difficult. Other expeditions have found that the area around Z'ha'dum is mined with traps and ancient defense systems. Other races have moved in, claiming it as their own."

"So you believe it is too dangerous to the warrior caste to go," Dukhat said sternly, but one could see the joke behind it.

Coplann looked at him, stern.

"The warrior caste fears nothing. But it is a waste of our time. Further, if the Council endorses such an expedition, it will cause unnecessary panic among our people."

"I agree," Dukhat said. "So they will not have to go."

"Thank you," Coplann said.

"We will go" Dukhat affirmed.

"What? But Master-"

"We are the ones who must decide how much support to give the Anla'Shok. We can rely on the reports of others, or we can see it for ourselves. My whole life I've heard of Z'ha'dum in whispers, at legends. I think I'd like to see it at once before I die. Wouldn't you, Delenn?"

"Yes, Master."

"Then we will go. We'll take only a feel support vessels sworn to secrecy to avoid the panic Coplann fears. And we'll travel indirectly, stopping at various outposts before we are ready for the final jump. It is an elegant and simple solution, Coplann. Thank you for giving it to me."

Coplann just looked at Dukhat with no joy on his face. Finally, he nodded.

* * *

 **A/N (2): As you may have noticed, I've based many Human worlds on various franchises of films, books, and series. Asgard, that I've already shown you, is based on Marvel Cinematic Universe's Asgard, with their golden towers and cold weather as well as the Viking-like design of its defense force ships. The Virtuan digital world is based on Tron. Aquaria's cities are based on Gungan and Mon Calamari cities from Star Wars. Eldaron is basically Alderaan from Star Wars, as well as Cortesa is based on Naboo. As for Valinor, a planet with a very Middle-Earth-like climate and mostly Elven based architecture, imagine Rivendell-like architecture scaled up and you get Valinor's. Nova Prime is a very urbanized planet, with dense cities and high towers.**


	11. Chapter 5: Voyages and Misunderstandings

**Chapter 5**

 **"Voyages and Misunderstandings"**

 **Year 2517**

 **Zafrari System  
** _ **Bellerophon-class starship USS Saxony:**_

"I apologize for this, captain," Alaric said with embarrassment. "My father's behavior is unacceptable. He's doing it to get under my skin."

Captain Alexandros Dorakis just nodded with understanding.

"It was unnecessary," he said. "But I can understand their dissatisfaction. They want you to follow the tradition and join the Asgardian Navy."

Alaric rolled his eyes and then sighed. He knew that as the Crown Prince of Asgard he should follow the traditions, but he also knew that as a USF citizen he was free to seek his own path. He wanted to explore the galaxy, to see new life and new worlds. His father, the king, couldn't understand. ' _As first in the line of succession you must be here learning your state duties, not flying around like a glorified adventurer_ ,' he said.

He wouldn't allow his father intimidate him. He looked at the viewscreen. His father was playing dirty. At the viewscreen, the ASV Fenrir was in front of them and Alaric could almost feel as if the ship was gazing directly at him. The Fenrir was a typical Asgardian ship, a Corvette, with a typical Asgardian design. Looking like a metallic Viking longship with two warp wings at each side of the ship's rear half.

"Hail them," Captain Dorakis ordered.

The viewscreen changed to show the dark golden bridge, with Norse-inspired patterns showing in the structure and design of the consoles. At the center sat Captain Morris, Alaric's father's loyal lapdog. He turned his eyes to Alaric, giving him a respectful nod, to which Alaric rolled his eyes, before recognizing Captain Dorakis.

"Captain. How may I be useful?" he asked.

"Actually, Captain Morris, I hailed you to thank you for your escorting and say that it won't be necessary anymore."

Captain Morris blinked, and then he frowned.

"I received orders to escort your ship until your return," he glanced at Alaric as if he were speaking to him and not to the commanding officer of the Saxony, before turning his eyes back to the captain. "It is my responsibility to guarantee your safety."

Captain Dorakis stared at him coldly.

"Captain Morris," he said. "I thank you for your concerns, but you are not in Asgard. This is Starfleet jurisdiction and, as the one responsible for the current mission, I have the authority and the duty to order you to leave. Your ship is not capable of going to where we are going the way we are going, thus you shall leave and let us do our work."

Both captains stared at each other for a whole minute, competing. But soon Captain Morris turned his gaze to Alaric and sighed in defeat. He nodded at Captain Dorakis and ended the transmission. They could see the Fenrir spreading its warp wings and going to warp.

Lucy Nichols, the comms officer, was the first one to break the silence.

"What a pain in the ass!"

"Tell me about it," Alaric responded.

"It doesn't matter anymore," the captain said and then a smirk appeared on his lips. He turned to Alaric. "Could Your Royal Highness prepare to jump, please?"

"Aye, sir," Alaric answered while rolling his eyes.

The Saxony's deflector dish started to glow with power. Different from the other races, who used Quantium-40 to open jump points, Starfleet discovered how to use its own energy and knowledge of dimensional mechanics to open one. In seconds, a yellow vortex appeared in front of the ship.

"Stable jump point formed. All readings are normal."

"Alright. Jump."

The Saxony went forward, entering the vortex. It was now in jumpspace, the constantly shifting fabric of gravity, light, and energy being visible in the viewscreen.

"Our sensors are working properly," Alaric said. "We can detect our position related to commonspace. We are ready."

"Good. Marlon, Warp one. Engage."

The ship's nacelles angled up, glowing, as the ship went to warp. The jumpspace environment shifted in the viewscreen as a glowing blue space with streams of white and blue light could be seen.

"Warp point eight, sir," Marlon said. "Point nine. Warp one. Warp field is stable."

"Good, let's push our limits. Warp three."

The ship vibrated, its speed increasing. Then it started to tremble.

"Ok, ok," Marlon said. "Warp two point seven, sir. It looks like that is our limit for now."

"Congratulations. It is not as fast as slipstream, but we are traveling faster in jumpspace then any known race has ever dreamed."

Alaric just smiled, he was born for this.

 **Z'ha'dum System**  
 _ **Sharlin warcruiser Al'ashenn:**_

A jump point formed, and the Al'ashenn jumped to normal space with the Valen'Tha properly shielded behind it. It was only a formality, of course. No race would dare attack a Minbari ship. Shai Alyt Furlan didn't believe that the Shadows were back. Valen was a great Minbari, the greatest Minbari, he gave them the chance to defeat the Shadows and they did it. They wouldn't come back after that. And even if they would, the Vorlons would warn his people, prepare them. They are not here, so it's certain that neither are the Shadows.

Furlan looked at the screen showing the Valen'Tha. He thought that this mission was a waste of time and resources, but he understands the Council. They want proof that the old enemy isn't back. Besides, orders are orders and he will comply.

 _ **USS Saxony:**_

"Status," the captain asked.

"All readings normal, sir-wait," Alaric said. "I'm detecting somethi-"

The ship trembled violently as it was knocked out of warp and jumpspace, back to commonspace.

The lights and consoles flickered. Alaric sat back by his station with dots in his vision. Captain Dorakis brushed his hand on his forehead to clean it from the blood.

"Report," he ordered.

"We passed by some kind of quantum fracture in jumpspace," Alaric answered. "It destabilized our warp field. Somehow we are in commonspace now."

Captain Dorakis nodded.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked the others, who nodded in agreement, except for Lucy. "Right. Lucy, you're temporarily relieved of your duties. Computer, teleport Lieutenant Nichols to the Sickbay."

Lucy disappeared from the bridge in shimmering lights.

"Ship status."

"The warp core is offline but we can solve this relatively quickly," Alaric said. "Comms, long-range sensors, cloaking, and shields are offline too."

"Weapons?"

"Only phasers, torpedo launchers are offline."

"Right, let's work."

"Sir, I'm am detecting ships in the system. Their configuration matches with the information the Centauri gave us. They are Minbari. Two Sharlins battlecruisers and twenty-nine Nial fighters."

Captain Dorakis frowned, he knew that the USF had chosen to avoid the Minbari. First contact could be inevitable now.

"Have they detected us yet?"

"I don't know, sir. Our own sensors are not working well, but they probably did. Their sensors are pretty powerful compared to other tachyon-based scanners."

"Reduce our energy readings, let's try to be as stealthy as we can. Meanwhile, get the shields back, maybe we'll need them."

"The deflector dish is damaged, it is launching small graviton bursts. The Minbari may detect it."

"Do your best, Ric."

 _ **Al'ashenn:**_

"Shai Alyt, we detected something," the warrior's eyes widened. "It's a ship! It appeared out of nowhere, no jump point detected!"

Furlan looked at the console next to him.

"Show me."

The holographic projection of the unknown ship was blurry, but Furlan could see the overall design. It was odd, like nothing he has never seen.

"Is it all we got so far? Just a silhouette? Is it too far from us?"

"No, Shai Alyt. It is close enough so we should be able to scan it, but it is blocking most of our scans."

That surprised Furlan. No younger race was capable of blocking Minbari scans, only First Ones should be able to do it. He should warn the Valen'Tha. Perhaps the Anla'Shok were not so wrong at all.

 ** _Valen'Tha:_**

A circular holographic viewscreen descended upon the Grey Council, showing an odd looking ship. White and grey, with white glowing blue pylons attached to its rear section.

"What is that?" asked Dukhat.

"This ship appeared out of nowhere twenty-thousand kilometers away from us," Satai Morann of the Warrior Caste reported. "No jump point was detected. It is less than half the size of a Tinashi, but its power readings are off the scale. Most of our scans are being deflected, even at maximum power."

"How did it appear without opening a jump point?" asked Coplann.

"We don't know. According to the scanners, the ship somehow decelerated from lightspeed as if it was traveling faster than light, but we just assumed it is some error."

"I have never seen this configuration before. Who are they?" Dukhat asked.

"I believe they are the Humans," Delenn said. "There are rumors that they don't use jumpspace, but travel faster than light in normal space. Perhaps that's how they appeared undetected to our sensors."

"That's impossible," said Coplann. "There is no way of traveling faster than light in normal space."

"We tried to contact them, but they are not responding. As is our custom we are approaching with gunports opened."

"By whose order?" Dukhat asked harshly.

 _ **USS Saxony:**_

"Sir, the alien vessel is coming in our direction. Gunports opened," reported Alaric.

Captain Dorakis nodded.

"It's a sign of respect according to the dossier the Centauri gave us. Try to re-establish comms.

We must communicate with them."

"Comms are still down," said Lucy, who had just come back from the Sickbay.

"Sir, the deflector dish is still releasing huge amounts of energy," Alaric reported.

"The Minbari may assume it is a weapon. Deactiva-"

"Energy spike!"

 _ **Valen'Tha:**_

"Master, that is a tradition of the warrior caste," Morann said. "A gesture of strength and respect. They can see our weapons, they can see we approach them open-handed."

"They are an unknown race that doesn't know our traditions. Close the-"

Dukhat could not finish his phrase and the Valen'Tha trembled violently, knocking the Satais down. All over the ship, columns and walls fell on people and energy conduits exploded.

"What happened? They attacked us?" Coplann asked, recovering his balance.

"Yes, Satai," the ship's Alyt responded. "They used some sort of powerful gravimetric wave. It knocked down many of our Nials. The Al'ashenn collided with our fore section."

"How dare they?" Morann said angrily.

"Order to fire on that ship, now!" Coplann ordered.

The Al'ashenn moved past the Valen'Tha. Two of its fusion cannons firing at the small ship.

 _ **USS Saxony:**_

"They are firing at us!"

"Shit!" Captain Dorakis says, he turns to Marlon. "Got warp?"

"Not yet, sir."

He looked at the behemoth that was the Minbari ship. Its fusion beams fire slammed at the Saxony's already weakened shields. The ship trembled.

"Status."

"Shields are holding."

"Evasive maneuvers. Lock phasers on them, I want them to know that we can fight if we need to. I want comms and warp drive working."

 _ **Al'ashenn:**_

Shai Alyt Furlan only wanted one thing now, to destroy the filth who dared attack the Minbari. The Al'shenn fired its fusion beams at the small ship, but they never reached the target. Some forced field appeared around the ship, protecting them from firepower that would have destroyed quickly any other ship of the younger races.

"How did they survive?" one of his officers asked himself.

"They are moving!"

Furlan's eyes widened as the small ship maneuvered impossibly for a ship that size. It looked more like a fighter evading his beams of retribution.

"Fire everything we can."

The Al'ashenn fired all of its twelve fusion lasers and six neutron cannons, an overwhelming amount of power enough to put any race in its place.

"They are evading our weapons fire!"

The ship trembled.

"What was that?" Furlan asked.

"They fired at us with some unknown energy weapon. It just cut off our left fin!"

"That's impossible, they shouldn't be able to lock on us."

"They just did, they-"

The Al'ashenn trembled again.

"They fired again. The beam went straight through our rear section. We almost lost singularity containment!"

Furlan looked at the small ship that could go against a Sharlin one-on-one. This kind of power shouldn't be allowed to exist. It must be destroyed!

 _ **USS Saxony:**_

The ship kept evading the Sharlin's fire, trembling when one of the beams slammed at the shields.

"Captain!" Alaric said, looking at the captain, who was knocked down his chair, unconscious and with his head bloody.

Alaric leaned over him, testing his life signs. He was alive, but barely.

"Computer, teleport Captain Dorakis to the Sickbay, now."

Dots of light shimmered around the captain, who disappeared in seconds.

"Lucy, do we have comms yet?"

"No, sir."

"We have warp!" Marlon said

"Get us out of here!" Alaric ordered.

The Saxony's nacelles angled up and glowed bright, the ship stretching forward and disappearing in a streak of light.

On the captain's chair. Alaric sighed with relief, yet he knew it wasn't over yet. This disaster could have great repercussions for the USF. They had a war just a year before.

What a mess.

 _ **Valen'Tha:**_

The sight of the Valen'Tha's corridors was devastating. Columns and the ceiling were falling apart. People were all over the floor, injured, bleeding. The horror being seen was inconceivable to the Minbari. No one except for the Shadows would dare attack them.

"Help me! Help me!" Delenn cried desperately. Dukhat laying in her arms, his eyes striving to stay open.

She was helping him to get to a medical room when he collapsed.

"Help me!" she cried again.

Dukhat murmured something, but Delenn couldn't understand it. Slowly, the light extinguished from his eyes, and Delenn felt it. Like never in her life, she felt pain, and fear, and hatred.

Morann stormed through the corridors.

"Delenn, the alien vessel fled. It is true. They can travel faster than light in normal space," he paused. "We need to strike back, but the Council is divided. Do we follow them back to their base and seek revenge, or do we wait and try to find out what happened? Yours is the deciding vote, Delenn."

Her heart was filled with rage. She looked at Dukhat's lifeless body.

"He was the best of us. They struck without provocation, there was no reason," she cried. "Animals! Brutal!"

She stood up and looked at Morann with pure rage.

"They deserve no mercy," she said. "Strike them now! Follow them to their base an-and kill them all! All of them! All of them! "

Morann ran back to the Council chambers, the Minbari would go to war.

Delenn's legs collapsed and she fell to the floor, crying with sorrow and rage."

"No mercy!" she cried again as if praying to the heavens to hear her.

 **Sigma 957**  
 _ **Vesta-class starship USS Columbus:**_

Captain Jay Valiant sat in his chair, in the Captain's ready room. The system they were in is unclaimed, though enclaved in Narn territory. For the last seventeen years, the United Systems have been exploring in all direction. Star systems, planets, spatial phenomena, new races, Starfleet wanted to see all of that, to meet what lies beyond the Crescent. More than half of Starfleet vessels are outside Human space now, exploring, and up until now Humanity had gone beyond what the other races call 'known space'. Starfleet keeps pushing forward. Races never met by the known powers were met, such as the Kor-Lyans. Systems that jumpdrives cannot reach were surveyed and explored. Of course, some regions close to home are still unexplored for one reason or another, especially Minbari and Vorlon space.

Now they were in an unnamed yet infamous system. Starfleet chose to designate it Sigma 957 and, though it is in Narn space, the Narn hadn't allowed Starfleet to survey it 'for your own good', as said ambassador G'Kar. Apparently, the system is the main stage of a series of rumors and mysteries told by races as distant from each other such as the Centauri and the Tokati. It is basically the Bermuda Triangle of space. But now Starfleet long-range sensor arrays detected unusual energy readings in the system and, after much insistence, the Narn government allowed Starfleet to survey it.

The Columbus got out of warp. Captain Valiant entered the bridge and watched his crew work with efficiency. The Éonn representative was there too, observing. It was unusual, to say the least. just after Starfleet issued this mission, the Éonn Council asked for permission to send one of their own with them. Starfleet Command, of course, accepted. The Éonns have a very close relationship with the USF, as the first race Humanity made contact with. They were a peaceful and friendly species who warned Humanity about the threats beyond the Crescent. And they were right, if the USF hadn't taken its time to develop and grow before exploring the outer space, maybe Humanity would be like the Narn or some of the League races, old Centauri conquests.

"I hope you're enjoying the trip, Miss V'xena," he said to the floating jellyfish-like alien.

The female Éonn glowed with changing colors.

"Your concern with my comfort is appreciated, Captain," she said with an ethereal voice.

Valiant just nodded. Her room was programmed to emulate her homeworld, with a methane-based atmosphere, and the right pressure and temperature, but she could do just well in the bridge's Earth-like atmosphere.

"Sir," his science officer called. "We are detecting what looks like a worldwide underground city complex at the system's only planet. The planet has a thick atmosphere and some powerful distortion field."

Valiant sat on his chair, his curiosity stimulated.

"Why hadn't the Narn told us about this?" he asked.

"They probably don't know, sir. Their sensors are not powerful enough."

Valiant frowned, thinking.

"Let's have a closer look. If anything goes wrong, the USS Kyoto is on their way to assist us."

The Columbus' impulse drive glowed as the ship went forward at great speed.

"Readings are normal. Wait, sir, I'm detecting some kind of transdimensional phenomenon. It's opening twenty-thousand kilometers from us! There is a ship coming through!"

"Yellow Alert!"

The ship was like nothing he has ever seen. It was a black disk with a glowing blue border and tentacle-like things with colored orbs rotating in front of it.

"Report."

"The ship is organic, though I can read some mechanical components. It used some dimensional drive to travel through a trans-dimensional portal, it is an approach completely different compared to our dimensional phase drives."

"Right. What are their weapons? Have they detected us?."

"Yes, sir. Their sensors are pretty powerful. I cannot detect any weapon, but the tentacles can be used to concentrate their sensor scans in a weaponized form."

"Hail, them."

"Aye, sir."

Valiant frowned while looking at the alien ship. He turned at V'xena and noticed that the Éonn was glowing brighter, her sheer power could be felt in his bones. He raised an eyebrow.

Interesting.

 ** _Recorder of Creation:_**

The younglings were hailing his ship. The First Traveler was about to ignore and just act as if they were not there, as usual, when he sensed a great psionic energy reading.

The younglings had a First One among them. An Éonn. That stimulated his curiosity. No one has had contact with the Éonns for millennia since the Atlanti isolated their homeworld and a large portion of space from the rest of the galaxy.

The First Traveler brushed the Éonn's mind delicately, respectfully. She responded. Her name was V'xena.

' _It is an unexpected turn, finding an Éonn after so long._ '

' _I'm here for them,_ ' the beautiful voice answered.

The First Traveler understood what she was talking about. The younglings, she was protecting them.

' _Why protect those younglings? Are they a client race of yours, like the Drakh and the Minbari are_ _of others?_ '

She chuckled, confusing the other First One.

' _No. They are our allies. Our equals._ '

That surprised the First Traveler. The Éonns were pacifists and more caring for the younger races than most First Ones, but even they wouldn't walk among them as equals.

' _Explain,_ ' he asked.

' _You should see for yourself. Try to scan their ship. Try to scan them._ '

And so the First Traveler did. He could feel their minds, could even communicate with them if he wanted. But he couldn't enter. Something was keeping him out easily and smoothly. The First One pushed again but was taken back by what he saw. He could sense the mental wall, and then he understood. The wall was not psychic in nature, not generated by a powerful telepathic mind. On the contrary, it was genetic, innate, and he recognized it's signature.

It was an Atlanti signature, deep within the younglings mental structure.

The Éonn called V'xena chuckled again. Asking him to continue.

He asked the Second Traveler to run a scan on the alien ship. But was surprised when he confusedly said that their scans were being blocked!

Impossible!

' _They are power and knowledge,_ ' V'xena said to a confused First Traveler. ' _They are young but they hold the potential of First Ones._ '

' _The Atlanti... How can it be?_ '

' _They are called Humans, and they have knowledge we don't have,_ ' she paused. ' _They have created wonders and done wonders. They explore our space and time, and other spaces and times. They know what you can do, and they can do the same._ '

The First Traveler looked at the alien ship. Trying to understand how could a younger race reach that level. But then his attention was taken to another ship that entered the system. It was similar in design to the alien ship the Éonn was in, but what surprised him was the way it entered the system. It traveled faster than light in normal space, but not by using the mass-less fields that the Leviathans used. No, they were distorting the fabric of space-time to do that. The First Traveler thought for a moment. He wouldn't ask 'what do you want' to her. No, he wouldn't ask that question.

' _What do you suggest?_ ' he finally asked.

The Éonn transmitted a pleasant sense of joy and excitement.

 _'I suggest that you forget their age and just talk to them. Learn with them and teach them. Wonders shall be discovered through your association, and your species will have the only thing you have ever longed for in your travels._ '

' _What is it?_ '

She smiled.

' _Company._ '

The First Traveler was silent. He looked at the alien ships again and turned to his Second Traveler.

"Open communication with them. We must learn."

 **Orbit of Minbar**  
 _ **Valen'Tha:**_

In their dark chambers, the nine Satais of the Grey Council stood in their enlightened places in a circle pattern with their faces covered by grey hoods. Three members of the Council of Caste Elders, one of each caste, stood within the circle.

Shakiri, one of the nine elders of the warrior caste, stood with an angry face while Carenn, Elder of the worker caste, spoke.

"The best among the worker caste has been analyzing the data sent by the Valen'Tha and the Al'ashenn regarding the Human ship," she paused. "We concluded that the Anla'Shok were right in their reports about the Humans, at least in part. The Human ship showed advanced maneuvering capabilities, energy shielding, sensors capable of passing through our stealth fields and superluminal travel. However, we assume that this ship may be a prototype with highly experimental technologies taken from the Dilgar after their victory or from other alien sources."

"The Centauri said that the Humans take those technologies for granted, and we are just assuming that they are lying?" said Shai Alyt Furlan of the Al'ashenn with mockery. "That should be impossible, I know. But we saw that it isn't. Those Humans are dangerous, a threat, and they must be destroyed."

Shakiri just nodded in agreement. He didn't think that such a young race would be capable of developing this kind of technology, let alone have it for granted. But on one thing Shai Alyt Furlan was right, no younger race should have the technology to go against the Minbari. They must be destroyed.

"The Humans have been trying to contact us, trying to arrange for peace talks to discuss this 'terrible accident' as they called it," Satai Rodell of the Worker Caste said.

"Disgusting liars! Let them waste their time. How about the mobilization of our fleet?" asked Satai Coplann.

"It is going according to our schedule. Five hundred ships in a month, five hundred more afterward. The warrior caste decided to seize the opportunity to train our warriors in an actual war," Shakiri answered.

"We can't beat them if we don't know where they are," said Satai Rathenn of the Religious Caste.

"Our intelligence regarding their territory is rather lacking."

"Not so much as one may think, Satai," Elder Callier of the Religious Caste said. "The Humans have publically claimed many systems since they first ventured beyond the Crescent," a holographic stellar map appeared around the Council. "They have colonies in the systems known as Vega, Delphi, Regula, Sinzar, and Jericho. Of those, Jericho is the most important to them and to us."

"Why is that, Callier," Satai Delenn asked.

"It is their biggest colony outside the Crescent. Five million inhabitants and a military shipyard.

Also, Jericho is a hub to many hyperspace routes and one of them goes directly into Minbari territory, to the Tarellon system, one of our biggest colonies."

"Then we must strike there first. It will be a blow to their military and cut their capacity to counterattack in Minbari territory," said Satai Morann while smirking, the idea of the Humans invading Minbari space sounding absurd. "But, we have yet a problem to solve. The Humans claim the Crescent as their home, right?"

"Yes, Satai. They claim all of the Crescent as their territory. According to the Centauri, the region is heavily populated by more than one hundred billion Humans."

"Impossible!" Satai Coplann said mockingly. "Our estimates tell that the Crescent is almost as big as all the known space. These Humans have been in space for five hundred years, only! They couldn't have possibly explored it all. And you say that there are more than one hundred billion of them!? Preposterous, to say the least! Even the Centauri, who have their bodies full of lust and are almost as old as we are, have only a population of fifty billion at most."

Shakiri listened to the Council as it protracted the discussions. It doesn't matter if they are advanced for their age, their technology will still be beneath the Minbari. They should be discussing war tactics, not Human mating customs.

"If their claims are true or not is not important for now," Satai Delenn said, breaking the discussion.

"But we know that most of their worlds are indeed inside the Crescent, through which we cannot travel. How to solve this disadvantage must be our priority.

Shakiri, pleased by the Satai's affirmation of the obvious, turned to her.

"We have a plan, Satai. They certainly have a way to travel to the Crescent. We know that Jericho is a shipyard, thus it must have all the equipment the Humans use to build their ships, including the specifications of their star drives."

"You plan to have access to their technology?"

"We do, Satai. Inferior or not, it was able to lock on and harm our ships, and some devices such as the shields and the superluminal drives can be useful to us."

"What about the information the Anla'Shok gathered over the last years?"

"Rumors," he answered. "Almost all of the content on their report is hardly based on evidence, and impossible to say the least. And they ask us to talk to the Humans! Foolish! No, we don't need them. We have our own plans."

"Alright, Shakiri," Satai Coplann said. "We will act according to your plans. The Human worlds shall fall by our hands and the universe will witness of the wrath of the Minbari."

 **United Systems Federation**  
 **Vienna, Austria**  
 _ **Centauri Embassy:**_

 _"This is ISN News Report, I'm Malik Heisenberg. The incident with the USS Saxony and a small Minbari fleet that became known as the 'Saxony Incident' is yet to reach its end. The Minbari Federation, a secretive and old race, has denied any of our requests to go to the negotiation table. The Centauri Republic and many League races have expressed their concerns that the Minbari may be preparing to war. Starfleet Command said that any attempt by the Minbari to violate the USF sovereignty and safety will be dealt with properly. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Alaric Svendsen, first in the line of succession to the Asgardian throne and first officer of the Saxony will be promoted to captain after Captain Alexandros Dorakis' passing. Despite the protests of King Axel, Starfleet said..."_

Londo Mollari looked away from the news report to the city out of his window. Vienna is an astoundingly beautiful city and he took a liking to it. Since he came to Earth, Londo has visited many of its cities. New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, Rome, Cairo, Bangkok, Tokyo, Beijing, Saint Petersburg. Humanity has a diversity of architecture and culture he has never seen before. From the modern cities with high towers such as Tokyo to the beautiful historic cities such as Saint Petersburg. Londo loved it, and now this coming war could destroy it all.

Londo looked at the skyline of Vienna from the window of his office for half an hour before looking back to the news report.

 _"...has chosen to call them Viatori, as their name is too long to pronounce. Starfleet will send a starship equipped with a dimensional phase drive to meet them in a week. Now, news about the exploration beyond the Mordor Relay. The exploration team led by Captain Lucas Monteiro have already discovered and activated three mass relays and is now exploring the regions that have been named Exodus Cluster, Head Horse Nebula, and Petra Nebula. The team discovered an idyllic world in the Utopia system that they called Eden Prime. They found an unknown alien artifact on the planet that, according to them, is probably some information database fifty thousand years old-"_

Londo turned the screen off. Humanity never ceased to surprise him. They have been exploring for not more than twenty of their years, and yet they have already gone farther than any known race. He frowned. He always thought that no one could go against the Minbari, except for the First Ones. Even when the Humans asked him for information on them he still thought this way. It took its time, but his perceptions were now changed. Humanity could not only survive the Minbari. He actually believes that they could defeat them.

* * *

 **A/N: Like I had already told you, I based the USF Asgard on MCU Asgard. Its architecture, its cities, its landscape. About the ASV Fenrir, it is a ship of the Asgardian Navy, their planetary defense force. I based the Asgardian ships on the defense skiffs we see in Thor: The Dark World. They are long with "wings" on each side that are the Asgardian analog to warp nacelles and with a Viking ship look.**

 **ASV stands for Asgardian Star Vessel.**


	12. Chapter 6: Prelude to Madness

**A/N: From now on I'll answer any questions you ask me on the reviews or in PM here.**

 **To Eaglestorm27:  
** _No, Humans have no psionic or physical abilities that we can call beyond human by our standards. Of course, they are slightly stronger, faster and more resistant to disease and they live longer than 21st-century Humans, but that's because of some genetic alterations and the nanites all Humans are born with. Overall, Humanity is pretty standard. And that is what makes them unique. Humans are still a younger race, despite their technology. They are technologically advanced, but not biologically advanced. If they were like a million years old, they would be accepted as First Ones and introduced into their 'balance of power' like the Atlanti were. But the fact that they are a young race that can go against First Ones is what disrupts the status-quo._  
 _Second. I know nothing about the Honorverse, but I choose Star Trek ship design because I find it beautiful and unique. If you look at science fiction in general, you'll find that most Human ships always follow one of two standards, the Custom Rocket (e.g SSV Normandy) or the Flying Brick With Weapons (e.g. B5 Earth ships, Starship Troopers' Human ships, Star Wars' Star Destroyers, Halo's UNSC ships, etc). Star Trek breaks this pattern and evolves around this from TOS to STO. It is unique and easily recognizable._

 **To FailedKeikaku:**  
 _Actually, the Vorlons have nothing to do with this war. Remember that all they know about Humanity comes from what Valen told them and what they could scan from Babylon 4. They think we Humanity is primitive, and they will have a big surprise._  
 _Second. Yes, Humanity is peace-loving, but remember that this is not Star Trek's Starfleet. Humanity is more isolationist and, one can say xenophobic. They want peace and diplomacy, but they know that sometimes you just have to fight. That's why they kept pushing their technology despite centuries of peace. They want to explore the universe, but they know that it is a dark and dangerous place. USF Humans wouldn't make the same mistake as the UFP made with the Cardassians._

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **"Prelude to Madness"**

 **Year 2518**

 **Minbar System**  
 _ **Scryer-class Intel Vessel USS Kuryakin:**_

They dropped one more drone. The cloaked object would monitor Minbari transmissions and map Minbari space. The USF doesn't want a war, but the Minbari are asking for it, the least they can do is be prepared.

The cloaked ship went in direction of Minbar, the Minbari homeworld. The planet was surrounded by hundreds of warships and the transmissions were more than clear. They want this war, they will attack and they won't listen. Sad, to say the least.

"Amazing," one of the bridge officers said. "Their ships are crystalline in nature. Actually, most of their technology is, even their buildings are built with crystal. I'm detecting an artificial quantum singularity as their ships' main power source. They have artificial gravity and they use it to move their ships."

"That is far beyond most races we know," the captain stated.

"True, but yet not enough to go against us. They have no shields, only a weak gravitic screen. Their sensors are advanced, but far below our level. And this stealth of theirs could cause problems to every race we know, except ourselves."

The captain nodded. It is something that bothered him the last years. Humans take their technology for granted, but the other races are on a level far below. Races like the Abbai, the Drazi, and the Centauri have all been to space for more than a thousand years, and yet their technology was nothing compared to the Human's. The Minbari are said to be above them all, and they are, but their level surprised the USF because Humanity was still far above. The reason why Humanity advanced so quickly was a constant thought in his mind. He doesn't think they are inherently superior in any way, far from it, but it is still intriguing.

"Sir, I'm detecting a ship coming in," one of his officers said looking closer to the console. "It has a powerful stealth field, more powerful than anything the Minbari could ever dream to have. The ship is organic!"

This surprised the captain. Organic technology? That was new. Well, at least when seen being used by an alien race, though he had heard rumors about the Viatori ship in Sigma-957 being organic too. Humanity had organic technology, in a level, their circuitry mixed isolinear and bio-neural components. Yet, here he was seeing an entirely organic ship. The level of sophistication to build it is far beyond the Minbari, perhaps far beyond even Humanity. What was it doing here?

"Scan the ship, I want information."

"The ship is a full living organism. It has no shields, but its skin is hard enough to give even our weapons a run for their money. No Minbari life-forms, only some... some unknown species. Wait. Captain, it turned to us. It's coming in our direction. It must've detected us somehow.

The captain looked at the ship as it maneuvered so swiftly as he has never seen any non-Human ship do.

"A gunport just emerged from its hull. They're powering weapons."

"Evasive maneuvers."

The ship quickly evaded but the yellow beam of energy passed by impacting its lateral shields before the ship could properly evade.

"Get us out of here, now!"

Quickly, the Kuryakin went to warp, leaving the system. The captain sat on the chair with his head full of thoughts.

"What was that weapon?"

"Some kind of gravity wave beam designed to disrupt the target's molecules, sir. It drained our shields by 30%."

"Them we have to stay away from whatever race owns that ship. Contact Starfleet Command. Tell them about our new friends."

 _ **Hyperspace**_  
 _ **Sharlin** **warcruiser Al'ashenn:**_

Shai Alyt Furlan looked at the glorious fleet the Minbari mobilized to perform the righteous retribution against the Humans. At least that is how his people were calling it. Furlan was more concerned about the outcome of the battle. He fought those Humans, he doesn't know if all their ships are as powerful as the one they found in that cursed place his people call Z'ha'dum, but he knows that if they are, the Minbari will have a difficult fight ahead.

He looked at the report he received before he left Minbar. According to the information they've gathered, the Jericho system was the largest Human colony outside the Crescent and had important shipyards. Five million people, a space station, and one hundred ships. The others joked saying that there would be no battle at all, only a competition to see which ships would be able to shoot a Human ship before the battle ended. The Minbari fleet was made up of about three hundred ships, a waste according to most people, but Furlan knew how dangerous these Humans were. He almost fought his own superiors while insisting that they guarantee a wide advantage against the Humans, saying that they would need a sizable fleet to keep the system.

His plan was simple. They would attack by surprise by moving through hyperspace. The station in orbit of Jericho III was by far the biggest threat, so he decided to destroy it first by opening a jump point just above it. The energy would be enough to tear apart any construct of the known races. The rest of the fleet would jump just after and finish the work.

"The _Death of Darkness_ is hailing us, Shai Alyt," one of his officers called.

"Open the channel. Shai Alyt Selonn, what is the matter?"

Selonn looked at Furlan with scorn. He certainly didn't approve Furlan's approach towards these Humans.

"We are entering the system," Selonn said. "We are in advantage three to one."

"Yes, we are."

"This display of waste is foolish, Shai Alyt Furlan. It would be more efficient if we divided the fleet to attack multiple systems at the same time."

"No," Furlan replied dryly. "The enemy is more powerful than you imagine, Selonn. We will need everything we have."

"Bah. No younger race can go against the Minbari. According to the information we have, those Humans have been in space for only five hundred years! That's a third of our time in space! You are a coward and a fool, Furlan. The Star Riders should cast you out for such cowardice."

"You hold your tongue, Shai Alyt," Furlan replied colder than the vacuum of space, but then he smirked. "But I hear the voice of your heart beneath the voice of your mouth. If you are so afraid of not being able to engage the Humans before the battle is over, you may move to the forefront. The honor of killing the first Human will be yours."

Selonn looked like he was going to explode with anger, but Furlan just nodded at him mockingly and ended the transmission. Minutes later, the _Death of Darkness_ and its section of the fleet broke out of formation and moved to the forefront.

Fool.

 **Jericho System  
 _Starbase 329:_**

The Sigma-class starbase overlooked on the orbit of Jericho III as dozens of starships roamed around doing their duties. The shipyard was small by Human standards, but it was rather impressive to the League representatives that passed by in last months.

Captain Veridia Ryan, the commanding officer of the station, was pleased. The colony already had five million people, the first major colony outside the Crescent, and the shipyard would be a launch pad to new Starfleet vessels visible to all races. Many still thought that the USF's power was a front, that they are not capable of producing many of ' _those formidable ships_ ' as Ambassador Mollari use to call them. Ambassador Volik from the Markab seems to believe strongly that the USF is depleting its treasury to maintain this front. And it looks like many aliens think the same way. Other races think that they could overwhelm them and acquire their technology with enough numerical advantage, despite Humanity's advanced technology. They use the Drazi, the Abbai, the Vree, and the Yolu as examples. They are among the most advanced races in known space, but they were utterly defeated by the Dilgar. They aren't as strong as the less advanced Narn. Some members of the League and the Centauri Republic think that way. Starfleet wants to correct this misconception.

She looked at the screen in front of her, a beautiful man was smirking at her.

"I'm in a dead end," said her husband, Phil. "I could run for the Parliament like my father wants me to do, but I don't want to do it. On the other hand, my family would pressure me more and more. In the end, mom will just say that you are the reason why, 'quote, ' _you're not following our-I mean, your dream_ '," he said.

"If you know that any decision would have bad consequences, you should just choose the one that will at least provide you the most joy," Veridia stated.

Phil's eyes lit and he smiled warmly.

"I love you, you know?"

"Of course I know," she chuckled. Her comm badge beeped. "Ryan."

"Captain, we have a problem."

"I'll be there," she sighed, looking back at her husband. "I must go now. Tell Gwen to do her homework, I'll be there next week to meet you.

"Ok, I'll go to Altair tomorrow to visit your parents. I'll tell them you said 'hi'. Bye."

Phil ended the transmission and Veridia got off of her ready room.

"What's happening?" she asked while entered the command room.

"Our sensors are detecting a Minbari fleet in hyperspace, ma'am. One hundred and three Sharlins, two hundred and six Tinashis, and thousands of fighters."

"Dammit," she cursed. "Red Alert! Tell all ships to be prepared. Jonas, hail the Minbari.

"Yes, ma'am."

 ** _Al'ashenn:_**

"The Humans are hailing us!" one of his officers said loudly, taking Furlan and all the others by surprise.

Furlan looked at him astonished. How? How did they know that they were here? No sensor beacon was detected and the thought of them being able to detect ships in hyperspace is ridiculous.

They've just lost the element of surprise.

"Let me hear it," he said.

His officer activated the speakers. The female Human voice came out in a perfect Lenn'a, the language of the warrior caste.

" _Attention, Minbari fleet. This is Captain Veridia Ryan of Starbase 329. Any hostile action won't be tolerated. You have three options: Come and discuss the misunderstanding that caused this, leave without talking with us, or attack us and die._ "

Furlan surely didn't know what to do, he had anticipated many things, but he hadn't thought of the possibility of the Humans being able to detect ships in hyperspace. His whole plan depended on the surprise factor.

"The _Death of Darkness_ is opening a jump point! They are jumping into normal space!"

"Idiot! He should've backed off!" Furlan said loudly. The element of surprise had been lost and he was considering to abort the attack. "Tell them to back off! Open the channel to the _Death of Darkness_!"

"Channel opened."

"Selonn, you had your orders. What is this display of insubordination?" Furlan asked angrily.

"You are a coward, Furlan, hiding behind coward tactics. I will show you that those primitive Humans are nothing," he ended the transmission.

 **Minbar**  
 _ **Valen'Tha:**_

Onboard the ship that was the seat of the Minbari government, the Nine stood sternly. They waited as the first transmissions of the battle appeared at the tridimensional imager around them. It would have a ten-minute delay, but yet they were confident. The Council thought that Shai Alyt Furlan's insistence on sending so many ships was a waste, but they finally accepted.

"Now it begins," said Coplann. "These Humans will be crippled and the younger races will understand that they can't go against the Minbari."

"We shouldn't declare victory before we have it in our hands," Delenn whispered.

"You doubt our people's will?"

"No," she answered. "I just don't think it is wise to brag about it."

"This discussion will lead us nowhere," Rathenn hissed. "Shall we watch?"

They all nodded, looking at the imager.

Oddly, the _Death of Darkness_ promptly opened a jump point before all the others. The vortex of energy opened just above the Human space station, which shook violently, but surprisingly it survived, its shields proving to be a real asset in their advantage.

The Council's mood became bitter as the station resisted the fire of five Sharlins with no problem while slicing said Sharlins with their unknown energy beams. It was official now, the enemy could see through their stealth fields. One more Sharlin was obliterated by some red glowing orb that was fired by the station. The orb, some kind of missile surely, exploded when it hit the ship's crystalline armor, the blast destroying half of the ship.

"The rest of the fleet is jumping," Morann stated.

The largest Minbari fleet ever assembled in the last thousand years jumped into normal space as the jump points opened. Some of those jump points were deliberately opened close to the Human ships, weakening their shields as the Minbari ships emerged, destroying them with a dozen neutron cannons firing. The mood improved lightly after this, but then the Human ships reorganized, firing at the jump points with glowing orbs that exploded violently, destabilizing the vortex and destroying the incoming ships. The Human ships' hull glowed as pieces of armor materialized out of nowhere, technology such as this never seen before.

The Council looked at the scene with terror. It has been no more than ten minutes of battle, and half of their ships had already been destroyed. Their Nial fighters were less than an annoyance to the shielded Human ships as their own fighters destroyed them with impunity.

"How can that be?" Delenn asked almost crying.

"According to the reports, the Humans are somehow capable of scanning jumpspace from normal space without beacons," Rathenn replied. "They detected us beforehand."

"Impossible," Coplann hissed. "Even we are not capable of doing that without sensor beacons."

"It looks like every time we meet those Humans the Anla'Shok's report seems more and more veracious," Morann whispered, but everyone could hear him.

"That is impossible," Coplann hissed again. "We are the most advanced among the younger races."

"Yet our fleet is retreating," Rathenn called out.

"No!" Coplann hissed again and looked back to the imager. "They must stay and destroy this Human colony! If we retreat we will be demoralized! It's all Furlan's fault, his plan was a disaster!"

"Look again, Coplann," Delenn pointed out with anger and fear. "More than half of our fleet is gone. Our plan was a failure because we underestimated the Humans, and now they are standing defiantly against our forces. Shai Alyt Furlan understood the threat they are and tried to counter it by preparing us. Unfortunately, even his efforts weren't enough. Now he is doing the right thing, he is saving the lives of his subordinates."

"By fleeing cowardly," Coplann said.

"By withdrawing strategically," she replied.

The transmission continued showing the battle. Jump points opened and the rest of the Minbari fleet withdrew. Surprisingly, the Humans stopped firing.

"Why did they stop?" Morann asked confused.

Delenn frowned, thinking.

"Maybe they didn't want to fight," she said finally, her peers looking at her confused. "They fought because we attacked them. The reports say that they warned our fleet to leave peacefully. We know that they are claiming the attack on Z'ha'dum was an accident, maybe we shoul-"

"We can't start thinking that way, Delenn," Coplann said. "We declared war against them, we told our people that they killed Dukhat in a coward attack. Saying that it was all a misunderstanding, that we were wrong, would be disastrous! Our people cry for bloody retribution and they need to know that we can guide them."

"You give more importance to your image than to the future of Minbar?" Delenn asked.

"No," he replied, clearly offended. "I would give everything I have for Minbar. But we have to think properly. We can't go to the negotiation table just after such humiliating defeat. We must at least have a victory, so we can negotiate from a position of power. Also, some Humans must die before we try to forge peace, the people won't accept anything less."

"We could attack a smaller colony," Rathenn said. "We can attack them where they are weaker and capture one of their ships," she turned to Satai Helononn of the Worker Caste. "Do you think that the worker caste can decode their technology and create counters to it?"

"Of course we can," replied Helononn. "We are the best scientists and engineers among the younger races. Give us some pieces of their technology and we can decode it."

"I look forward to having these shields on our ships," Coplann said. "Their technology is advanced, we can't deny it, and that's why we need it. These Humans are too young to play with such devices. We will take care of that technology and then distribute it to the other races as we see fit."

"Agreed," said Morann. "But that brings us to another question.

He turned to the three Vorlons in the corner, their mere presence appearing to dissolve the darkness in the chambers. They arrived some days ago, a surprising sight to all the Minbari. The Vorlon cruiser was still in orbit of Minbar, a beautiful reminder of who the Minbari were. They were the chosen ones, those who would be the first of a new generation of First Ones.

"Their technology is too advanced to their station," Morann finally said. "Are they servants of the Shadows?"

The other members of the Council gasped as Morann articulated his question. They all had thought about the possibility. Their technology was too advanced, and they were found the first time at the Shadow home system. But the tension was erased when the angelic voice of one of the Vorlons was heard.

"No," Kosh said, the other two of his kind glaring at him.

"If they are not," Morann whispered," how are they so advanced?"

Kosh didn't answer, he didn't know either. He, Ulkesh and Kaldosh have been surprised since they arrived on Minbar. First, they found a cloaked ship that their sensors couldn't detect. The ship was only detected because the younglings hadn't cloaked their minds and the Vorlon cruiser sensed their presence. Then, the ship not only resisted Vorlon fire that was capable to destroy any other ship made by the younger races, but it vanished suddenly as the minds got out of detection range in faster than light speeds. The Vorlons thought that some mass effect-using race may have had found its way to the circle, but then their ship told them that it couldn't detect any mass effect field moving the ship, only some unknown spatial distortion.

When they arrived at the Valen'Tha, the Vorlons saw the Minbari preparing for war. But they knew that already, they had known for long. Their war against the Humans was expected. The circle completes itself. What was unexpected came later. The battle in Jericho was being transmitted to the Valen'Tha, and the Vorlons didn't like what they saw. The Humans showed technology far beyond their station. They watched as the younglings defeated the Minbari with ease, using weapons that even the Vorlons themselves had never seen.

'Why did you tell them that the Humans are not servants of the Darkness?' Ulkesh asked in Kosh's mind, though Kaldosh could hear too.

'The truth points to itself,' Kosh answered.

'We could have used it in our favor," Ulkesh replied, being ignored by Kosh.

'Valen lied to us,' Kaldosh said. 'The Humans are not primitive, not compared to the Minbari. They must have had help.'

'The Shadows would neve-'

'Not the Shadows,' Kaldosh interrupted Ulkesh. She showed anger, but he didn't care. He was older than they were and he knew better. 'The others, the ones that detained our right.'

Both Vorlons silenced. They knew exactly who he was talking about.

The Atlanti.

'They wouldn't interfere,' Kosh said. 'They never do.'

'Not that we know,' Ulkesh hissed at him. 'We must destroy those Humans.'

'No,' Kosh replied. 'They are necessary for the circle to complete.'

And suddenly Kaldosh understood. His anger flooding the chamber, terrifying the Minbari who were there seeing in a silent second this lifelong discussion among these powerful beings.

'They did this!' Kaldosh screamed with hatred. 'They inserted the Human in our plans, they manipulated us to create the circle, to make us dependent on it and prevent us from wiping out those vermins they call their _children_!'

Kosh looked at his peer. He knew Kaldosh was not the most stable Vorlon, everyone new. He was one of the few who had actually witnessed the power of an Ascended. Not only that, he had tasted it. The Atlanti that he was probing for the secret not only ascended and showed his power, he shared with Kaldosh the sensation, the thrill of having it and using it. It was the ultimate act of revenge. To show Kaldosh the taste of power, to addict him to it, while denying him the object of his addiction.

"Will you fight with us?" Delenn asked, trying to hide the desperation in her voice.

"No," Ulkesh answered. She didn't care about the Minbari, they were tools, nothing more. Yes, they were the best the Vorlons ever had, but tools nevertheless.

However, even she knew that they needed to help the Minbari in some way, they were important to the war against the Shadows.

"But," Delenn said again, thinking in the right way to ask the Vorlons without offending them, "are you helping us?"

Kosh's iris just widened and narrowed again.

"Yes."

 **Sigma-957  
** _ **Universe-class starship USS Gagarin:**_

The Gagarin dropped of warp close to Sigma-957. The Viatori ship, the _Recorder of Creation_ , was waiting for them in orbit of the planet. Captain Jeanine Bouvier was sat on her chair at the wide bridge. The holographic consoles were too bright for her taste, she preferred the darker ones. The Gagarin was the newest and most advanced ship built by Starfleet alongside her older sister, the USS Universe. She had advanced warp and quantum slipstream drives, the experimental zero-point core, dimensional phase drive and could be outfitted with a temporal displacement drive, though she needed permission from the Department of Temporal Investigations to have one.

The Universe-class was created to be the ultimate exploration ship. It was capable of traveling the entire extension of the galaxy in days, as well as exploring other dimensions and, maybe, other galaxies as well. Of course, Starfleet Command decided to take it slow, so she would only do some exploration alongside the Viatori to build trust. They were the second race of First Ones that Humanity met and the USF wanted to cause a good impression.

The mission would take ten years, too long for her taste, but she couldn't complain. If the Galaxy-class was a hotel in space, the Universe was a city. Some called it a 'moving starbase', others called it a 'city-ship'. They were all right. The Gagarin had parks, schools, apartments. Captain Bouvier's family was there with her and she was overjoyed for having them so close.

The ship's weaponry was powerful too. Dozens of advanced phaser, plasma, polaron, and antiproton beam arrays and pulse cannons. Dozens of torpedo launchers equipped with photon, quantum, pulsar, gravitonic, transphasic and chroniton torpedoes. The ship also had railguns, multiphasic regenerative shields, temporal shields, ablative armor generators and the best sensors Mankind has ever developed. Starfleet really wanted to impress.

"Ma'am, the Columbus, the Cabral, the Zheng He, and the Marco Polo just dropped of warp," said Commander Mikael Schadt.

"Good. Subcommander V'xena," she called the Éonn representative who now served aboard the Gagarin. "Hail the Recorder of Creation."

"Yes, Captain," V'xena answered with her angelic voice.

The viewscreen showed a figure that looked like a floating mask made of stone. Jeanine knew that this was not their true appearance but the way they like to present themselves to the younger races. She couldn't help but find it amusing when V'xena told her earlier that the Viatori usually appear as a hologram on other vessels to talk to them, but they couldn't bypass their shields and thus they had to use the viewscreen.

"First Traveler. This is Captain Jeanine Bouvier of the USS Gagarin. Me, my crew, and the crews of the other ships in this exploration fleet look forward to working with you."

"Follow," the First Traveler said and ended the transmission.

'I wonder with all First Ones are this rude,' she thought.

"Captain, they are engaging their dimensional jump drive."

"Scan the quantum signature of the vortex."

They looked at the viewscreen as the Viatori ship opened a stormy white vortex and entered it, the vortex closing soon after.

 **Unknown universe _  
Recorder of Creation:_**

The First Traveler was intrigued. The ship that the younglings called Gagarin was powerful and advanced, he could sense it. How those young ones achieved such level in such short time was a mystery to him a no Viatori liked mysteries. His race liked to know, mysteries being a charade sent by the universe that they feel compelled to solve.

The younglings used the knowledge about an unknown dimensional layer as the base of their technology. He must learn about it. He couldn't rip the knowledge out of their minds because of that annoying wall he was certain the Atlanti had put in those Humans' minds. He couldn't resort to violence either, as he doesn't want to antagonize the Éonn female called V'xena nor the Atlanti themselves. Their plane of existence was beyond his people's grasp, besides, the Atlanti _are_ power and he doesn't want to go against them.

The Recorder of Creation dropped from its portal into a new universe. The First Traveler looked at the closing portal. They knew that new universes could hold horrors beyond imagination, and thus their portals were quick to open and quick to close. They were not stupid like the Vorlons. However, now the portal was closed and the younglings hadn't passed through it. The vortex had powerful energies and a weak ship would just be crushed if it tried to pass through. It doesn't matter. Maybe they weren't supposed to pass. The Éonns were stupid by mixing with such lesser beings. He was stupid for even thinking that they were capable.

Suddenly, his senses sharpened. He focused on the dimensional anomalies forming in front of his ship and was taken by surprise when the younglings' ships materialized like ghosts. His Second Traveler was astonished. They just phased pass the boundaries of their universe to reach the present one. Unbelievable! It is an approach different than anything that his race had ever conceived! Such technology in the hands of such young race!

His attention was taken from his thoughts when the Gagarin hailed them. The image of its bridge appeared and a smirking Captain Jeanine Bouvier looked directly into his soul. She certainly kept their dimensional drive a secret on purpose, to take them by surprise.

Well played.

"Come," it was all he said, before ending the transmission and thinking that, perhaps, the Éonn V'xena was right. Perhaps they needed company.

Now they have found it.

 **Human Space**  
 ** _Starfleet One:_**

In the conference room of the ship, the President of the United Systems Federation, Elizabeth Levy, listened to the reports of Starfleet Admiralty.

Starfleet One was a unique ship, the official spacecraft designed to carry the president. Its design was based in the first Constitution-class starships, being a modified and oversized Constitution-X. The ship was 725 meters long, white with blue markings and the seal of the USF in the saucer section. It was filled with diplomatic quarters, conference rooms and officers, everything the president would need to run the nation.

While the presidential office is in Paris, it was a consensus that the president wouldn't always be on Earth. Therefore, Starfleet One was built to be the center of the USF government when the president is not on Earth.

"We have explored beyond the Crescent for only twenty years so far and already started two wars, gentlemen," President Levy said, silencing the others present in the room. "This development can be disastrous to the Federation. We have already isolationist groups pleading for the federal government to reinstitute the Act of Isolation. They say that Humanity gains nothing on associating with aliens."

"These groups are small and unimportant, Madame President," Admiral Martin stated. "But there is some logic to their thinking. Humanity had been in peace for centuries and now we are occupying the Dilgar worlds, being raided by the Ch'lonas, and attacked by these Minbari."

"You, more than anyone, know that our isolation was unsustainable. The universe is full of terrible things that won't wait for us to leave the Crescent, they will try to break in. That's why we kept pushing forward our weapons technology despite the Pax Humana," she sighed. "What is the situation in Jericho?"

Admiral Mitsuko Nohara stood up.

"The Minbari attacked with a fleet of three hundred ships, not counting fighters. They were defeated, withdrawing with ninety-four remaining ships. Forty-one of their warcruisers designated _Sharlins_ and fifty-three of the smaller cruisers designated _Tinashis_ ," she paused. "We have eleven of their ships captured for study and about one thousand prisoners."

"On our side, we lost nineteen ships," Admiral Jakande. "Opening a jump point very close to our ships to weaken its shields looks to be their favorite and, unfortunately, most effective tactic. If unshielded, the ship is torn apart quite easily. If shielded, the shields are weakened enough to be bypassed by their Sharlins' fire. Fortunately, the Minbari didn't know that we can scan jumpspace from commonspace. They surely were planning to take us by surprise."

President Levy frowned.

"Is there something we can do to achieve peace?"

"They don't answer our requests, madame," Admiral Martin said. "According to what we could gather from the other races, the Minbari are the most advanced among them and they have been in that position for quite a long time. They are used to being the best, for centuries they have been almost invincible."

"What are you suggesting, Admiral?"

He sighed.

"They won't listen. They think that we are lesser compared to them. This defeat in Jericho was certainly a blow to their confidence, perhaps even their entire worldview!" he paused. "I personally think that they will only listen if they taste defeat."

President Levy listened to the Admiral carefully and then nodded calmly.

 **Jericho System**  
 _ **Starbase 329:**_

He opened his eyes abruptly.

Shai Alyt Selonn of the Star Riders looked around and saw other twelve members of his crew. They were in a white room with three walls and an opening. Through the opening, Selonn could see two armed aliens standing close to what he was sure were doors. The aliens looked like Centauri, but Selonn knew better. The way they were dressed, their hairstyles, even the minimalistic way that the room was decorated. It all screamed 'not-Centauri'. They must be Humans.

Then, Selonn realized that, despite the two Humans standing there, they were twelve Minbari warriors. They could overwhelm these creatures. They weren't even smart enough to put them in a cell with grids or something to contain them. He looked at his second-in-command, Shakran. But, as if reading his thoughts, Shakran, shake his head to Selonn before extending his hand to the empty opening. Shakran's hand impacts o some kind of force field that became visible for an instant before disappearing again.

Selonn's eyes widened. They were prisoners in enemy territory. The Humans would torture them for information on the Minbar's defenses. He wouldn't allow it. He would kill himself and his crew before they could. He was taken out of his thoughts when the door between the guards opened. A Human female entered the room. She was wearing what Selonn assumed was the Human military attire, different from the guards' armor. The female certainly held a position of power among the Human warriors. One could feel the respect emanating from the guards toward this female.

Far different than the Centauri, indeed.

"I am Captain Veridia Ryan, commanding officer of this starbase," she said coldly, surprising the Minbari by speaking in perfect Lenn'a. "You are now prisoners of war. You'll be held captive until we reach an agreement with your government."

"Agreement?" Selonn asked, confused. Then his face went blank again. "You think you can reach an agreement with us? You're a fool. There will be no agreement, only extinction."

The female smirked. She smirked!

"You'll find that Humanity is not so easy to exterminate. Your fleet had a three-to-one advantage and yet we defeated them."

"Liar!" shouted one of his officers. "No younger race can defeat the Minbari in a fair fight."

"You don't need to believe if you don't want to. All you need to know is that any rebellion attempt will be dealt with properly. You are under the protection of the Geneva Conventions on Prisoners of War. You won't be tortured, nor forced to work, nor killed. But any attempt to disrupt the well-being of my station or yourselves will result in you all being put in stasis until the end of the war."

"My brothers will capture this system and you will know how _we_ treat our prisoners of war," Selonn replied.

"Your delusions are irrelevant. You shall comply," she turned to leave, but then stopped and turned back to Selonn. "But don't worry. This war will end soon. Meanwhile, be at home."

She turned and left. Selonn looked at his officers. What he saw came as a punch to his face. They looked defeated, confused. They couldn't understand how could they have lost. For the first time, Selonn doubted himself and his people's ability to travel through the stars with impunity. As much as he knew it was impossible, he was in the battle, he saw it. He saw his people lose.

He saw his people lose.

* * *

 **A/N: As you probably noticed, Starfleet One was based on the Enterprise from JJ Abrams' movies. And the USS Gagarin is a Universe-class vessel, the same as Enterprise's USS Enterprise-J from the 26th century.**


	13. Chapter 7: Mistakes

**A/N: This is the new chapter, enjoy.**

 **To Eaglestorm27:**  
 _No. Humans can't create a dimensional shield to counter the Minbari jump point tactic because it doesn't work by some fancy dimensional concept, but by a simple principle. The tactic suddenly creates a singularity close to the ship, the heavy gravitational/space-warping impact being capable of tearing apart about any ship, just weakening heavily the shields in the case of Human ships. Of course, that tactic will only be useful when Humans can't detect a ship in jumpspace and are got by surprise. While they could detect the Minbari in Jericho, the tactic worked because they didn't know it could be used that way._  
 _Second. Starfleet is the sole USF military. Of course, there are divisions such as MACO, the Starfighter Corps, and the Ground Combat Operations, but it is still Starfleet. I see some bias against Starfleet multi-role starships, but, actually, they were one of the Federation's main advantages. If you look at Star Trek you will see that, while Romulan or Klingon ships were built almost entirely to war, the Federation multi-role vessels are almost always in the same or in a higher level. Only against enemies such as the Dominion, the Borg, and the Breen the Federation looked weak, those first two being to the Federation as the Minbari are to Earth Alliance and the Breen being a complete mystery to the Federation. Back to the USF, understand that, though those Humans are peace-loving, they aren't dumb pacifists such as, say, the Ancients from Stargate or even ST's Starfleet. Concerning to ships built for war, the original Starfleet itself has lots of them, the Defiant, the Akira, the Prometheus, the Steamrunner, the Saber... They are powerhouses despite their size and appearance. That is something I find annoying about sci-fi. Human ships are only powerful if they look like a flying brick loaded with weapon ports. The USF (and to some extent ST's Federation) is advanced enough to not be totally bound by practicality, being able to create powerful and beautiful ships. Also, one thing that I need to clarify is that, while Humanity is powerful, it is not militaristic (only 0.5% of the population is in the military). Humanity doesn't want to beat anyone. They will beat anyone that tries to threaten them and will prepare for any threat they can imagine, but they won't go around looking for someone to beat or to conquer._  
 _Third. The Walkers and the Humans will have a very close relationship. Like I said previously, Humanity will disrupt the status quo. Some will embrace the change, some won't._  
 _Forth. The problem with the Minbari is that they have been superior and isolated for too long. This contrast between arrogance and supposed enlightenment is very common among old civilizations, I call it the Middle Kingdom Complex in reference to 19th century China. Like the Chinese, the Minbari were ahead of everyone, but their isolation and indifference to the rest of the world made them not see that they were stagnant while the others advanced. They just won't accept easily that they aren't the center of the universe anymore. However, I don't intend on punishing the Minbari at least not by Human hands, they are as much pawns on this Vorlon-Shadow chess table as all the others. The Queen may be the strongest piece, but it's a piece regardless. A reality crash is what I foresee to the Minbari, and it will cause huge social turbulence. I intend on using Humanity to show them that older doesn't always mean stronger or wiser and that what has worked for a thousand years may suddenly not work anymore, sometimes old just means decrepit and the rules around us change and crocks previously successful traditions. Basically. The greatest humiliation (as well as a lesson) will be when the Minbari are on the brink of extinction due to a powerful enemy that threatens everybody, and they are saved by Humanity. Fifth. Dealing with the Centauri slaving culture is harder than dealing with the Batarians. The Batarians enslave everyone, they raid other races. The Centauri enslave their own people. I'm not condoning slavery, far from it, but the Batarian slavers aren't an internal affair. The Centauri ones are. And remember that the USF is somewhat isolationistic, like the Minbari, they have to some extent the same 'the affairs of other races are not our concern' attitude. So, I'm still coming up with a solution to that. But the USF laws on slavery will clash with the Centauri Republic when a certain Centauri slave dancer arrives at Babylon 5 to steal ambassador Mollari's heart._

 **To EffervescentNova:**  
 _Yes. The Atlanti are beyond anything the First Ones (even Lórien) can ever dream, but only because they are ascended beings. The pre-ascended Atlanti were at the same level as the others._

 **To Strato1:**  
 _You asked if Humans have replicators that turn energy into matter, could they do the other way around. That was a very interesting question an to answer that I'll have to explain what I made up as the basic makeup of THB universe, which I based loosely on the Strings Theory. Basically, at a sub-quantum level, the boundaries between matter and energy are very thin. So, the fundamental components of matter are made of energy, waves vibrating at a certain frequency. With that knowledge, one can disaggregate matter and reconstruct it as well as create matter directly from energy by changing its sub-quantic wave frequency. However, using this concept to create energy from matter is counter-productive. Imagine that to replicate a hamburger directly from energy (not from raw matter which would be easier to do) you'd need 2 measurement units of energy, one unit as raw material to build the thing itself, and one unit to 'move' the machine, to alter the makeup of the energy at a sub-quantum level. The latter would be used to rewrite the frequency of the first unit of energy into the basic building blocks of matter that would then be used to build subatomic particles, then atoms, then molecules, then the hamburger. To do the reverse process, the replicator would spend one unit of energy to break hamburger into one unit of energy, the amount of energy produced is the same as the amount of energy spent to produce it. In the end, you would spend the same amount of energy that you would gain and there would be no gain at all. That's why it doesn't work. Though the replicator spends more energy to replicate a hamburger than to convert matter into energy, the hamburger has a function that makes it desirable to replicate. If you do the reverse, you would spend energy to create energy, which you already have, that would be a waste of time. So, energy-to-matter and matter-to-matter (what the replicators do to waste, as well as to recycle air, water, etc) are actually useful when matter-to energy is not._  
 _Second. No, they can't send incoming fire to other dimensions, not yet at least. They have some transdimensional and temporal knowledge, but not as far developed. Also, differently from the Viatori (the Walkers), the Humans went in a totally different way when dealing with transdimensional travel, they don't open portals but phase through the fabric of reality._

 **To skywardwanderer:**  
 _The Narns will have their world back the way it was before Centauri invasion, but they just hate too much the Centauri (who wouldn't) to let it go. We have the tendency to see the oppressed as good and innocent, and Babylon 5 just subverted this beautifully with the Narn. They are just as vicious, greedy, expansionist and hypocritical as the Centauri. They were oppressed because of a disfavorable circumstance of being technologically inferior, if it were the other way around, they would have done the same to Centauri Prime and the Centauri would be the oppressed ones that we would try to protect. Back to the Narn, they won't learn for a long time before finding peace._  
 _Second, I know that you want Humanity to curb stomp the Minbari, but that won't happen, at least not so soon. My idea is to end this war in a very anti-climatic way. It will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of both Humans and Minbari that will be important to the social and political changes during the Babylon era._

 **To talon2007:**  
 _You have to understand the Minbari mindset. They believe that for being the 'first line of defense against the Darkness' a thousand years ago the other races owe them something. For them, the very fact that a younger race dared to attack them is a crime against the universe. But that's not all. Remember that the Minbari believe that every generation is reborn in the next, however, for 'some reason' each generation there were less and less Minbari, they fear that they've lost those souls forever, and Dukhat was to them the best Minbari since Valen! His death was not only an insult, but it also inflated the collective fear they have of never being able to give birth to great Minbari such as Dukhat again because their souls are getting lost._

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

 **"Mistakes"**

 **Jumpspace**  
 _ **Valen'Tha:**_

'Why the Humans?' Delenn had asked them. And as enigmatic as a Vorlon can get, they only said that the truth points to itself.

She sighed. They were now in hyperspace on their way to Sinzar system. The system was a small Human colony, no more than one hundred thousand people, lightly defended by only ten Human ships. The Vorlons told them that they would help, and they did. Traveling now with a fleet of about one hundred warships, the Grey Council decided they wanted to watch the Human defeat closely and fearlessly as a sign of faith on the Vorlons. They knew they wouldn't be detected. The Vorlons gave them some device, a 'null field generator' as they called it, that would prevent the Humans from detecting their fleet in hyperspace and normal space. Also, a Vorlon cruiser came with them to watch the battle.

Yet, Delenn was apprehensive. The Vorlons were helping them, but they wouldn't fight alongside them. And now she knew why. They needed the Humans. Dukhat knew that. The Vorlons knew that. She knows that now. She had let grief and sorrow control her and she made a mistake. A great mistake. Her people wanted the extermination of the Humans, more than ever now that they proved themselves a real threat.

She walked through the corridors of the Valen'Tha. Her thoughts were still heavy on her mind. She has to stop that. That was what the Vorlons implied. She has to, but she doesn't know how. The other Satais said that all they needed is a victory in Sinzar, and then they would call for negotiations from a winning position. But Delenn knew them all, especially Coplann. The moment they take Sinzar, they would fall like carrion eaters on any Human technology they find and use it to lay waste to the Humans for daring to stand against the Minbari.

And then, that would be the end of them all.

"Delenn," Coplann called her. "It's good that you joined us already. We are in position."

"Have the Humans detected us?" she asked.

"Of course, not," Coplann said. "Did you really think that they could go against Vorlon knowledge?"

Delenn said nothing, she just turned at the tridimensional screen around them. The fleet was glorious, but again, the previous one was even more.

Look how it had ended.

"That station," Morann said pointing to the odd-looking station orbiting the planet, "It is the main threat to our forces. It must be destroyed first."

Delenn looked at the fleet around them. The Satais told the others as well as themselves that such a large fleet would be necessary to protect the soon-to-be-occupied system. But she knew better. They were afraid.

These are dark times, indeed.

 **Sinzar System**  
 _ **Starbase 312:**_

The Watchtower-class starbase was working at full capacity when it started to sound 'red alert'.

"What is happening?" asked the XO at the command center.

"I'm detecting jump points opening close to us, sir. Someone somehow bypassed our sensor arrays!"

The XO looked at the screen as a vortex opened just above the station, shaking it violently and weakening its shields.

"Shields at 66% and dropping, sir. The ships exiting the vortex are Minbari!"

He looked at the aquatic-looking ships. Again those disgusting aliens were attacking Human worlds.

They had already lost five ships.

"Call Starfleet Command. Tell them what happened here. Launch fighter squadrons."

"Aye, sir."

He watched as the AC-409 Mk III Valkyries flew around the Minbari ships, swarming them while firing micro-torpedoes and pulse phasers.

"Status," the XO asked.

"Shields at 31% and dropping."

The XO sighed. Seven Minbari Sharlins turned at the starbase and fired. The continuous fire draining its shields, then the armor, then the Humans onboard felt the coldness of space as their lungs were sucked out of their bodies.

 ** _Valen'Tha:_**

The mood around the Grey Council was good, but not _very_ good. They had destroyed the station, but the damned thing had already destroyed fifteen of their ships. Meanwhile, the Human ships were destroyed, but it had cost the Minbari thirty ships to do it. Now, these cursed fighters were the only things left, and yet they were swarming them heavily. The fighters had shields too, and their speed and maneuverability implied an advanced knowledge about gravity and inertial dampening.

"These cursed fighters are a problem," Coplann complained. "They are too fast for our ships to lock on, and even when we are lucky enough to manage a hit for a second, their shields protect them long enough for them to fly out of our weapons' fire. Our missiles' blasts seem to be the best way to slow them down and hit them."

"They fight bravely," Delenn said, gaining Coplann's attention. "They know that, though their fighters are powerful, they can't win alone against our entire fleet."

"Whether they fight or not, they know they will die anyway. So, really, is this bravery or simple desperation?"

Delenn just looked at him.

"We should bring one of them aboard for questioning," she said. "If our next step is to find and assault their homeworld, we must know their defenses, especially if they are as formidable as everything we have already seen."

"Very well, Delenn. But quickly. We will fast run out of candidates."

She looked at the tridimensional screen. The truth points to itself, she remembered the Vorlon telling her. She saw one of the Human fighters flying in their direction. The left glowing-blue nacelle attached on its back releasing large amounts of plasma. It was certainly damaged, probably it had no shields. They had already discovered that the Human shields blocked their tractor beams. The pilot was certainly planning to ram the Sharlin. Brave and selfless.

She has chosen.

"That one," she said.

The tractor beams locked onto the fighter, bringing it to the Sharlin. The ship's Alyt would soon be ordered to bring the prisoner to the Valen'Tha.

"I'll see to the interrogation," Coplann said, leaving.

 **New Omelos, Immata System**  
 _ **USS Santos-Dumont:**_

President Fesa'ra looked at the windows to her planet. Suddenly, all the sadness she had buried inside erupted violently, her eyes watering. The Dilgar were a proud people, but that pride was destroyed. It was for the best. Jha'dur's pride did that to her world. She looked at the Mas'shass crater and the soil waves around it. Six billion Dilgar were killed in that cursed day, the worst genocide ever perpetrated in galactic history. Jha'dur would rather see her people dead than defeated, everyone knew that she used to say that. No one knew she really meant it.

Fesa'ra sighed. The worst crime the Dilgar ever made wasn't even against others, it was against themselves. How could such culture be anything sustainable? How can people still fight for something like that? The Imperium was gone, replaced by the brand new Dilgar Constitutional Union. She smiled a bit, those Human ideals were the synthesis of everything she had fought for all those years.

"Miss President," she heard a voice call her. Looking up, she saw the reflection of Admiral Marco Rogers in the transparinum window.

"Admiral," she smiled. "It's already time, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," he answered. "The evacuation of Omelos was already completed and its sun can go supernova anytime soon."

"Are you okay?" she asked, noting that he was frowning more than the normal.

"We just received a report from one of our small colonies, Sinzar. It was occupied by the Minbari," he paused. "Anyways, the remainder of your people is already on their way to New Omelos."

Fesa'ra nodded to him, thinking about the new Dilgar homeworld. New Omelos was previously a barren world, despite being in the habitable zone of the Immata System. She still had the memory of its terraformation fresh in her mind. It was a public demonstration of power, she was sure of it. Using some technology the Humans called 'Genesis', they simply terraformed the planet in a question of hours. She saw oceans forming and the land becoming green before her eyes from a ship in orbit, and then she thought how Jha'dur could have possibly thought that they could defeat the Humans.

Fesa'ra was sure that the alien observers present were as shocked as she was, perhaps even the alien nations that hadn't sent an observer as a protest against Humanity helping her people regretted their choice. It was like seeing the staff of the gods touching the ground and making life out of nothingness.

She looked at the space beyond and saw the shockwave coming. Soon Omelos would be no more. Perhaps it was for good. Too much blood stained its soil. Perhaps a new beginning in a new world is what they need. And she would do it to her people. She would fight the remnants of the Imperium. She would fight them all to guarantee the freedom of her people.

Fesa'ra turned her back to Omelos and walked away as the planet disappeared from the window when the ship entered warp. It was time to look forward.

 **Jericho System**  
 _ **Odyssey-class starship USS La Défence:**_

Admiral William Martin looked through the window of his ship, a large fleet gathering in the system. In twenty-four hours, they would have five hundred ships ready for combat. The Minbari would rue the day they attacked Human territory. Freeing Sinzar was the priority, but the fleet would also be the prelude to the invasion of the Minbari Federation. It was settled, now. The Minbari don't want to talk, so they will hear to phaser fire.

They don't know how the Minbari were able to approach in jumpspace undetected. Because of that, Starfleet Command decided that such a large fleet was a necessity in case the Minbari have a larger fleet in the system than estimated. The fleet was formed by Akiras, Prometheus, Sovereigns, Defiants, Sao Paulos, mostly ships designed for war first. The Minbari wouldn't even know what hit them.

Admiral Martin sighed. Even after this war ends, the USF would still have a bigger problem on their hands. Politics. Humanity has been exploring outside its borders for twenty years so far, and yet war has already broken out many times. Many groups of different ideologies are emerging. The Homeguard wants to maintain Human technological superiority, something Martin and most Humans actually agree on, but also to expel the alien diplomats and isolate Humanity. Terra Firma is worse, they just don't agree with the Homeguard in regards to isolation, they seem to prefer that Humanity take a more proactive role among the other races, while not mixing with them, with an imperialist 'Human race's burden' kind of ideology. Of course, most Humans aren't xenophobic, but they do have concerns about aliens and their rightful opinions can be twisted by such demagogues.

"Admiral," his second-in-command called. "The Churchill's and the Sun Tzu's groups have just arrived. The task force is assembled."

"Good," he signaled to his comms officer to open the channel to the fleet. "This is Admiral Today we will show the Minbari what we are made of. Our mission is to retake Sinzar, treat any of our citizens that may have been tortured and then we will strike at the heart of their space. Sinzar is 20 light-years from Jericho. It will take almost two days to arrive there. While at warp, Captain Svendsen of the USS Saxony will provide us with every insight he has on how the Minbari fight. La Défense off."

He sighed again.

"Lieutenant Ivanov, warp 9.95. Let's do it."

 **United Systems Federation**  
 **Aquaria**  
 **Nácar, Capital of the Federated City-States of Aquaria**  
 _ **University of Nácar:**_

Professor Sadiq Gutierrez looked out the window of his office, the campus' gardens were more beautiful than ever now that he wouldn't see them again. At distance, he could see the shoals swimming the other side of the bubble. That was Aquaria's uniqueness. As an ocean world, when Humanity colonized it they had to reinvent all of their notions of construction, habitation, transportation, and city-building. Aquaria's cities are called bubble cities because they are floating masses of spherical and ovoid polarized transparinum bubbles attached to each other like a chain of molecules. Inside those bubbles, the cities are built with skyscrapers, parks, and houses. The first settlers learned how to farm the native seaweed and aquatic plants that are now an important part of the Aquarian cuisine. Aquaria is a marvel in itself. The ocean's depth is so deep and dense that even at high temperatures, water turns into ice. The entire world is covered in an ice cap between the crust and the ocean. The lifeforms evolved in a layered ecosystem. Algae and aquatic plants get sunlight at the top layer and on high underwater mountain chains, where coral reefs can be found too, forming large aquatic forests that can be seen from orbit and are the home to dozens of species. At the lower layers, chemotrophic plankton-like lifeforms that thrive close to the many underwater geothermal fissures are at the bottom of the food chain. Around them an infinity of sea life evolved, Aquaria's oceans being more crowded with life than Earth's.

Professor Gutierrez would miss his adopted planet. He was born Takamagahara, one of the many colonies under Starhaven's division. But he has lived in Aquaria for over fifteen years. It has been his home, but now it was time to leave. He was invited to be among the first colonization group to a planet found the other side of the mass relay. The universe is too big to be sitting behind an office desk.

According to what he already knew, the planet was extremely rich in element zero, its high concentration making the planet difficult to scan very deep. Because of that, a full archeological team, of which he is part of, was assigned to participate in the colonization efforts. Professor Gutierrez looked out of his car's window. He would miss Nácar, the so-called Pearl City. He would miss Aquaria. He would miss the trips to the coral reefs of Marston Mountain and to the Seacherry Forest. He looked at his wife, Maria, and his son, Omar, sleeping on the backseats.

The boy has never seen dryland before, not outside the media, holodecks, and hologames. He would see it soon. The planet they are moving to is an idyllic paradise if what he heard is true. The perfect place to raise a family.

A planet called Eden Prime.

 **Sinzar System**  
 ** _Sharlin warcruiser Al'ashenn:_**

Shai Alyt Furlan just stood at the center of the command bridge of his Sharlin. The Sinzar System was fully occupied and Sinzar III was under quarantine. Furlan mood wasn't good, though. They needed a ten to one advantage and the surprise factor to defeat the Humans. They lost forty-six ships to destroy ten and, because of such heavy losses, the one-hundred ships fleet that was on its way to the Human colony of Regula had to be called to Sinzar to strengthen their position. That didn't seem like the display of Minbari superiority they were expecting. Less pleasing was the behavior of the other warriors. Some wanted to bombard Sinzar III from orbit, glass the planet. Others wanted to land troops and play 'hunt the Human' with the civilians. Satai Delenn's orders to not attack the planet were the only thing keeping them from swimming in a sea of Human blood. That made Furlan think. The Minbari were showing new colors in this war, colors that Furlan doesn't want to see associated with his people.

The Valen'Tha was gone now, in route to Minbar. The captured fighters would be of great use to the Minbari. They would be the key to crack Human technology, but he knew it would take time. The Worker caste is confident, but Furlan noted that overconfidence is a common trait among his people. Even Furlan himself was prone to that, the defeat at Jericho being eyeopening to him.

He looked at the tridimensional screen. Sinzar was being converted into a fortress. Turrets and small weapon platforms were being deployed, meanwhile, the fleet stayed inside the null field, the Vorlons feeding them with data from the outside.

"Sir, the Vorlons are feeding us with sensor data. There are a large number of objects entering the system at faster-than-light speeds," one of his officers told him.

"Show us."

The tridimensional screen changed, showing as dozens of ships of different sizes and configurations, though unmistakenly of Human design, arrived the system with their unusual faster-than-light drive. In flashes and streams of light, the Human ships decelerated from lightspeed so quickly that the inertia should have turned the crew into molecular paste.

He looked at the Human fleet as it deployed its armor and engaged the defenses the Minbari installed. Colored energy beams and glowing torpedo orbs tore apart the turrets and weapon platforms before they could even fire, their stealth fields being useless to protect them just as Furlan had reported the Council.

"Order the fleet to forget the stealth fields and convert all power to the weapons."

"Yes, sir. But-," his officer hesitated. "But why bother? They can't detect us in the null field."

"We can't just stand here forever. Besides, I'll never underestimate these Humans again."

 ** _USS La Défense:_**

The La Défense fired at another weapon platform, its crystalline armor designed to refract and weaken energy weapons being disintegrated by the phased nadion beam.

"Where are the Minbari? Did they leave?" Admiral Martin asked.

"It doesn't look like it, sir," one of his officers spoke. "I'm detecting a large null field four-hundred thousand kilometers from us bearing 994-mark-009"

"A null field?" his science officer asked. "It explains how they attacked Sinzar by surprise. We can detect a null field in commonspace. But in jumpspace, our sensors, though more accurate than the other races', have their limits."

"I know that the Minbari are advanced to the standard of the other races, but this is way beyond their station," the tactical officer spoke.

"Not if they had help," the science officer stated. "I'm detecting two large organic structures inside the null field. One at the very core of it, certainly the generator. The other is a ship, larger than the one the Kuryakin found on Minbar, but yet of similar configuration."

"So the Minbari have friends," Martin said. "They are most certainly the famed Vorlons the other races keep telling us about."

"But the Vorlons have ignored all of our attempts to open contact."

"Looks like we know why, now," he whispered. "Well, the Minbari certainly think that we don't know they are here. Let's surprise them."

 ** _Al'ashenn:_**

Shai Alyt Furlan always trusted his instincts, but now they were going against his reason. He knew that it is impossible for a younger race to detect the null field. The Vorlons stated that it is impossible. Yet, here he was, looking at the Human fleet that just decimated the defenses his people put in the system with ease. Defenses that would be lethal to any other race he knew except the First Ones. His instincts were telling him that the Humans knew. Inside his head, reason and instinct were battling each other.

He looked at his crew. They fought the Humans before, he could see the fear in their eyes.

No.

Following his instincts could mean the survival of his people.

"Order the fleet to jump to hyperspace."

"Yes, sir."

The Alyts would protest, but he doesn't care. He had one-hundred-fifty-four ships under his command.

"Sir, Shai Alyt Alucar of the Star Burner is hailing us."

"Onscreen."

Shai Alyt Alucar appeared on the screen, he didn't look happy.

"What kind of cowardice is that, Furlan? You wish to flee from those beasts that call themselves Humans?"

"The enemy certainly knows where we are, Alucar. We need to jump into hyperspace where we know the Humans can't detect the null field."

"Foolish. The Vorlons said they couldn't detect it! Our victory in this system proved it! And even if they did, we can't be defeated with a Vorlon ship at our side!"

Furlan sighed. What a fool. e really thinks that the Vorlons would fight for them? He asked himself

if that was what the Warrior caste was becoming. He didn't like the response.

"If you want to stay, Alucar, be free," he turned to one of his officers. "Jump."

The Al'ashenn opened a jump point and entered hyperspace, while other ships did the same.

"How many ships followed us?"

"Thirty, sir. All of them are ships that survived Jericho, like ourselves."

Furlan sighed. On one side there were the arrogant and overconfident, on the other, the broken who lost the certainty of their place in the universe.

Furlan hesitantly placed himself in that last group.

 _ **Sharlin warcruiser Star Burner:**_

Shai Alyt Alucar looked at the coward Furlan as he and his lackeys fled to hyperspace. It doesn't matter. His honor would be smashed and, alongside it, the prestige of the Star Riders. Alucar would have an easier time cutting them down when he becomes the leader of the Wind Swords.

He was waiting for it.

First, he thought it was outrageous when his fleet on its way to attack Regula was called to Sinzar. But now he realized that the real fight is here. He hadn't fought the Humans yet and he was looking forward to it. It would be glorious to humiliate the people that killed Dukhat, glory that he would use to leap the ranks.

It would be beautiful.

"Sir, they are powering up! I've never seen anything like that!" one of his officers said.

Alucar looked at the screen and saw as the glowing-blue pylons attached to the Human ships glowed brightly and they stretched forward in streams of light.

"They are around the null field, sir! They just covered one light-hour in five seconds!"

"What?" Alucar gasped. The null field should be invisible. The Vorlons-

"The Vorlon cruiser is opening a jump point! It is jumping to hyperspace."

Alucar was catatonic. He heard as the speakers went on.

"This is Admiral William Martin of the starship La Défense. You invaded the territory of the United Systems Federation and, thus, must be punished. You will leave this system immediately or be destroyed."

Alucar looked up to the screen. The arrogant creature was standing at the center of a wide bridge full of holographic consoles and people behind them. The Human spoke in perfect Lenn'a, probably some unknown translator technology.

He looked at his eyes. They were bright amber. Like the eyes of demon.

"You forget your place in the great scheme of things, Human. Your insolence will be your undoing."

The Human looked at him with what Alucar could only interpret as boredom.

"Fire," he said just before cutting the channel.

"Evasive maneuvers! Take us out of the null field, I want an erratic course!"

The fleet moved as the Human ships started firing, their phaser beams and torpedos disappearing when entering the null field, while it expelled dozens of Minbari ships. The Minbari where being slaughtered before his eyes. It shouldn't be possible!

They are the Chosen Ones!

They are the Chosen Ones!

Alucar saw as a Sharlin fired at a Human ship a fifth of its size with no effect as the neutron fire slammed at the small ship's shields and the ship responded by slicing the Sharlin in half with its characteristic reddish energy beam. Those glowing explosive orbs were flying around faster than any missile he has ever seem, while their own missiles were being intercepted by the same unknown energy beams.

"We lost ninety-four ships, sir!"

"Destroy them!"

"Sir, the Vorlon cruiser, it's coming out of hyperspace!"

Alucar's mood improved a bit as he saw the glorious organic ship emerge from hyperspace and putting itself between the Human and Minbari fleets. The Human ships ceasing fire as soon as it arrived."

It was over.

 _ **USS La Défense:**_

Admiral Martin looked as the organic ship the size of the La Défense emerged from jumpspace. He was hoping that they don't get involved, but it looks like the Vorlons are really allies to the Minbari.

"Order the fleet to stop firing. Open the channel to the Vorlon ship."

"Yes, sir."

"Attention, Vorlon ship. This is Admiral Martin of the United Systems Federation. We have no grudges with your government. Our problem is with the Minbari."

"They are responding, sir," his comms officer said.

"Let's hear it."

"The mountain stands where it wants to." an ethereal voice said through the speakers.

"Wha-"

"Sir, they are opening a jump point!"

"They wanna cover so the Minbari can flee," he said. "fire a tricobalt torpedo at the jump point."

The La Défense fired a light-blue orb of light. As the subspatial distortion reacted to the fabric of jumpspace, it started to become unstable. The radiation emissions became high until the jump point collapsed, destroying the ships that were trying to pass through it.

"The Vorlon ship is hailing us"

"Let's hear it."

An ethereal voice filled the bridge, yet they could all taste the rage in it.

"The pebbles won't stop the mountain's doing."

"They are powering up!"

"Raise shields. They will realize that we adapt fast."

 ** _Star Burner:_**

Alucar watched with horror as the Vorlon ship powered up an fired at the larger Human ship. The green gravitic beams that could cut through any ship he knew was stopped by its shields. The Human ship trembled, but it wasn't destroyed, surprising the Minbari. The other ships didn't interfere. The La Défense maneuvered quickly, evading the Vorlon fire as its own reddish beams cut holes through the Vorlon ship's hull. The Vorlon ship charged its main weapon and waited for the right time before firing a powerful quantum gravitic discharge at the La Défense. The ship was knocked off course, its shields absorbing most of the damage before they collapsed, the beam impacting the ship's ablative armor and cutting through the saucer section, taking out a chunk of it.

"How can it still be functioning?" One of his officers whispered.

The La Défense maneuvered out of the Vorlon weapons' lock before turning again. It was flying face-to-face to the Vorlon ship when it fired a dark blue beam that cut through the Vorlon organic armor before launching four orange energy orbs that exploded violently against the remains of the ship, blinding everyone with the light the explosion released. When the light faded and he looked at where the Vorlon ship stood, he was surprised by finding nothing.

"Wha-"

"The explosion blinded our sensors for a while, sir. But it looks like it disintegrated the Vorlon ship at the molecular level!"

Alucar's eyes widened. No younger race should be able to do that to the First Ones. Suddenly he thought about Furlan.

He laughed. That man would live to see the next day. He wouldn't. He turned at one of his officers.

"All the information and recordings on this battle. Send them to Minbar."

"Yes, sir."

Shali Alyt Alucar looked at the Human fleet. These Humans are the greatest threat to his people.

And he wouldn't be there to fight them.

He closed his eyes as a hole opened at the wall of his command chambers sucking him and his crew to the vacuum of space.

 **Jumpspace**  
 _ **Valen'Tha:**_

Delenn entered the chambers in a hurry. At the center stood a Human, tied. She looked at him, as she had never seen a Human before. Almost identical to the Centauri, and yet different somehow.

"You called me," she said to the Satais.

"Delenn," Coplann said. "W-We were trying to use the triluminary to probe the Human," he extended his hand, giving the sacred device to her. "You should see. You should all see."

Delenn walked to the Human, the triluminary glowing more brightly than ever when it approached him. She walked back, taking off her hood.

"The triluminary confirms it. The Human has a Minbari soul. And not just any soul, the soul of Valen. Did the other prisoners show the same?"

Morann nodded affirmatively.

"I still can't believe it," Coplann complained. "But the triluminary is our most holy relic. It cannot be questioned. Minbari souls are being born into Human bodies."

"Minbari do not kill Minbari," Delenn stated. "It is our greatest law. Valen must've been reborn into this form to tell us that the Humans are important, important to the next phase, the coming Shadow War," she paused. "We cannot destroy them."

"Could we ever?" Rathenn whispered, sadly. "We just won here because we were in great advantage."

"In the name of Valen," Delenn continued, "and the one who is Valen's shadow in this life, we cannot kill them. Tell the ships to withdraw from Sinzar."

Coplann looked at the floor.

"Well, Delenn. They were already driven out."

"What?" she asked, surprised.

"A large Human fleet arrived at Sinzar. They somehow detected the null field and destroyed most of our ships," he paused. "They destroyed the Vorlon cruiser too, the Vorlon representatives left the chambers moments ago emanating rage."

Delenn was shocked. How did they destroy a Vorlon ship? It would just make things more difficult.

"What about the Human?" Morann asked. "He knows what we have found. We cannot kill him.

And we cannot let him tell anyone else. If our people find out about this before we can prepare them it could be disastrous."

"Send for a telepath," she replied. "We'll remove this memory from his mind."

"It is pointless. Our telepaths were already called to interrogate him. They could take nothing."

"How is that possible?"

"The Humans we captured have some kind of mental barrier. Not a conscious one, some kind of natural mental defense. Our telepaths can't invade their minds. They describe it not like a physical barrier that you can overcome with enough force. It's just like they couldn't make a connection. A dozen telepaths were as useless against it as a single one."

Delenn frowned, thinking. One more mystery. It seemed like mystery walked alongside Humans.

Suddenly, their concerns evaporated from their hearts, an angelic voice talking to them.

"The mountain will act," the Vorlon said. The Minbari not knowing exactly what he was talking about.

Kaldosh stood in front of the Human known to his people as Jeffrey Sinclair, trying to contain his hatred. The Humans destroyed a Vorlon cruiser at Sinzar, with relative ease that no younger race should have. They were too advanced to their station, too powerful. Kaldosh said to the other Vorlons through their mind link that they should cleanse the universe of them for such insolence. But the Vorlon leadership decided to wait. Despite Valen's lies, he was still necessary for the circle to complete. That Atlanti plot to contaminate the Vorlon experiment, that bait they sent them more than a thousand years ago in the form of Valen and that cursed station. The Vorlons were still dependent on that.

Behind him stood Kosh and Ulkesh. Kaldosh looked at the Human who would be called Valen, the Human who would lie to the Vorlons, tell them his people is primitive. Kaldosh pushed to enter his mind and was surprised when he just slid off some kind of mental walls. He analyzed it and saw that it had a natural defense of some kind. He could communicate with the Human, project thoughts and lucid dreams to him and even hear the answers that he would project back. But he couldn't manipulate or invade that mind. He knew that Valen's mind was said to be unreadable too, but they all assumed it was an effect of the chrysalis.

He tried to push again, and again he slides off of it. Angry and surprised, he called for help from his fellow Vorlons. Joining their minds, they pushed, but again they just slid off the walls. Kaldosh's anger could be sensed by the Minbari present. Yet, he tasted something in the Human's mind, something familiar.

Something Atlanti.

His iris widened and narrowed as he felt a powerful presence manifest in the Human.

"Who are you?" He asked.

The Human laughed, lifting his head. His pupils glowing yellow. The creature smirked, irritating the Vorlon. Its voice encompassing the entire room.

" _Who are you? What do you want?_ Those two questions caused so much havoc in the galaxy," it looked directly at Kaldosh, who stepped back instinctively. "I am an old acquaintance, and yet a total stranger. I'm not actually here, yet I'm everywhere."

"You!" Kaldosh recognized the creature.

"Moi," the creature replied, smirking. "You already realized about our interference on your circle. For that, I give you credit. I knew you could do it."

Kaldosh was fuming. Meanwhile, the Minbari were hearing nothing and seeing nothing. The creature was certainly numbing their senses.

"Don't worry, Kaldosh," the creature said. "I won't destroy an entire star system to prove a point, at least not again. I'm here to say, only, that you won't be able to manipulate the Humans or their minds. As our appointed heirs, we decided to leave them some... legacies. This is one of them. But don't worry. I'll block his memory of today's events. He will only remember when the time comes," the being smirked. "About your desire to go to war against them... Well, know that this is not a good idea. Fight them, if you want to. You _will_ just lose," he shrugged. "Yes, you will bleed them, bring them to the brink of extinction. But, in the end, they _will_ win. They have a fire inside that is long gone in you.

Kaldosh fumed, his anger palpable.

"Anyway," the being continued. "Au revoir, mon ami!"

The Human fell unconscious. The Atlanti presence disappearing from the chambers. The Vorlons and the Minbari catatonic.

"It's done," Kosh finally said to the Minbari present. Kaldosh was catatonic and, though the Atlanti was the one responsible for erasing the Human's memory, the Minbari didn't need to know that.

The Minbari, now in their full senses, nodded.

"He will have to be watched, to ensure that he does not remember," Morann said.

"Leave that to me," Delenn replied. "We'll keep him close to us, one way or another."


	14. Chapter 8: The End of a Cycle

**A/N:** **Sorry I haven't been updating lately, these last two months have been tough with final texts at college, French, Japanese and English classes, as well as other works I write and, to complete the package, I'm passing through a hell of a writer's block. Anyways, enjoy.**

 **To skywanderer:**  
 _I'm glad you understood my motivations. The anti-climatic way the war ended will leave a bitter taste on many Human and Minbari mouths and it will be a plot device for future arcs. But don't worry, the Minbari will bleed, just not by Human hands. As I said, while this Humanity is based on Star Trek's Humanity, sharing their thirst for knowledge and exploration, peace-loving nature and utopian society, they are in some aspects as xenophobic as B5's Earth Alliance and as militaristic as ME's Systems Alliance._

 **To Eaglestorm27:  
** _Yes, the Atlanti are ascended beings and they can possess not only Humans but everyone they want to. However, they don't need to. The Atlanti who possessed Jeffrey Sinclair could have appeared as a shining mass of light, as a turtle, or as a Human dressed as a Starfleet captain and shouting 'Mon Capitain'. He chose to possess Sinclair only for the theatrical effect and because he likes to play with Kaldosh specifically, to his chagrin.  
About the Legacies, they are the inheritance the Atlanti left the Humans, who were proclaimed their heirs. Like I said previously, the Atlanti were based on Stargate's Ancients, with some dots of Star Trek's Q and Halo's Forerunners (actually, all of their "megastructure building-culture" was based on the latter). But, no, it has nothing to do with symbiosis. I will reveal the Legacies to the readers, as well as to the in-universe Humanity, soon. But we already know the first legacy, they told the Vorlons, this is the Legacy of Protection, which shields Human minds from mental invasion and manipulation.  
Third. Just like the Shadows can be defeated, despite their technological advantage, when facing an overwhelming disadvantage in numbers, so can the Humans. A Human fighter craft is powerful enough to go against a Minbari Sharlin mano-a-mano, but remember that the Humans in Sinzar were caught by surprise. Sinzar had no strategic importance to justify any concern, the Minbari jump point tactic was considered useless since the Humans were already capable of detecting them in hyperspace and just stay out of way, and more than a hundred Minbari warships fought only ten Starfleet vessels (most of them not even dedicated to war). The Minbari were only victorious because the Vorlon null field (undetectable by Humans when in hyperspace, though not in commonspace as the Vorlons and the Minbari learned) allowed them to attack by surprise and destroy many Human ships very quickly. Though some authors such as AlbertG (my favorite) write the Federation in a very Mary Sue-ish way, they make it clear that any technological advantage can be overcome by numbers and surprise. I've learned that one from him.  
Fourth. The Vorlons aren't the only ones that know about the Atlanti, all the First Ones including Lórien know about their ascended status and how powerful they are. But, of course, some Atlanti have a particular interest in tormenting the Vorlons specifically. And, yes, we will see them interacting with Humans more openly when Humanity starts to interact with the First Ones on a regular basis. However, the Atlanti will truly interfere only when a great threat comes, but that will take years, yet._

 **To Mf002: _  
_** _I notice that the chapter's pace was hurried too. The problem is that I had many tests to study for and my time was rather lacking. About the beta reader, it's somewhat difficult to find one, considering that I am a Brazilian guy who knows very few people that are at the same level of English as myself and even fewer who are in a higher level. And none of them likes sci-fi nor fanfiction like I do (they find it at best eccentric, at worst, weird)._

 **To Guest (who I'm pretty sure won't read it anyway):  
** _I think you misinterpreted my explanation. I hadn't said that the hyperspace traveling method or the jump points themselves aren't based on some different dimensional realm. I'm saying that the tactic of opening a jump point close to a ship to destroy it works by a simple principle. It's not hyperspace itself (the fancy dimensional stuff) that destroys the ship, but the fact that space warps around it when the jump point is opened. It is like opening a door and slamming it on the face of some guy who was behind it, it wasn't the space beyond the door that harmed him, nor (directly) the person who opened the door, but the door itself, a wall that impacted into his face. It is not hyperspace that harms the ship when the Minbari use that tactic, but the impact caused by the vortex._

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

 **"The End of a Cycle"**

 **Year 2518**

 **Orbit of Minbar  
 _Valen'Tha:_**

She remembered it as if it had been yesterday. Looking around the Council Chambers, Delenn remembered how amazed she was when she entered this place for the first time. Delenn was only an acolyte then, working for Dukhat. She didn't even know that he was training her to hold a place in this same chambers. She could feel the power, the authority, the moral certitude.

Not anymore.

When she first entered, the Minbari were the shining star of the Universe. They were the ones that stood between the candle and the star. They were Grey, the ultimate instrument of Light against Darkness. They were champions, undefeated, unbeaten. They were the most powerful among the younger races.

Not anymore.

When she first entered, the Vorlons were the very incarnation of power, order, and certitude. The very idea of something they couldn't do was unthinkable. They weren't gods, the Minbari no longer actually believed in such superstitions, but they were just as close.

Not anymore.

This angered Delenn, and yet saddened her too. The Humans did this. They inserted uncertainty into the Minbari minds. Now, looking at her fellow Satais around, Delenn could see the same thoughts in their faces. No one of them was hooded, as protocol would require. They needed to see each other.

"It's over," with a whisper that all of them could hear, Helononn was the first to break the silence. He looked up. "It's over. Not the outcome we were expecting, but an outcome anyway."

"You call that an outcome? It's a disaster!" Coplann hissed. "We lost hundreds of ships, the worst loses we endured since the Great War! The Humans lost no more than thirty ships. Even a Vorlon cruiser was lost to them, one-on-one!"

They all looked at him, displeased first by his rude explosion, and then by the truth in his words. They all have seen the recordings. They all have seen the Human ship resisting Vorlon fire and destroying the powerful vessel. It was groundbreaking, to say the least. Terrifying, at worst.

"The defeat at Jericho. The destruction of our flagship, the Drala Fi, and its patrol group at Shengol by a single Human ship. The defeat in Sinzar," Rathenn said. "They are more advanced than us. We can't deny it anymore,"

Coplann opened his mouth to retort but closed it when words were not found.

"What about the fighters?" Morann asked Helononn, who sighed.

"We learned very little about their technology by analyzing the fighters. We know they are made of an unknown alloy, harder than anything we know. They are powered by an antimatter reactor and two fusion reactors that use some particle that is extremely unstable and we don't know how to contain. They have artificial gravity and the pylons on the top indicate that it is capable of achieving their translight speeds. They are protected though. Somehow, their systems just disintegrate when we try to analyze it more deeply. And even when we try not to be invasive, they won't activate no matter what we do. We know nothing about their weapons, translight engines, computer systems, database, nothing."

"So we have nothing!" Coplann complained. "We put all of our hopes in being capable of replicating their technology. To close the gap."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Delenn spoke. "The war is over. We signed a treaty with them."

"Ah, that treaty! Madness!" Coplann exclaimed.

"Not madness," Delenn answered. "Hope. The idea is good. To build a free haven for diplomacy in neutral territory," she paused and sighed. "We had focused so much on defeating the Humans that we haven't given the thought of understanding them. We knew we were fighting them, so we assumed they weren't worthy. This initiative from them was surprising. They had defeated us, they could have made demands, asked for resources and territory, but they haven't. They gave back their prisoners unharmed, people we thought were dead."

All looked down. They remembered the day when the Humans said they had prisoners to give back. They were expecting a handful of people, beaten, tortured, future burdens to Minbari society. That's what they would have done to Human prisoners. What they saw was thousands of well-fed, cared for people. People who came back to their families with stories about how magnanimous, how civilized, about how advanced the Humans were. That was even worse than a bunch of warriors on the edge of death. The latter would at least spread the image of the Humans that the Council has painted, of them as savages touched by Darkness.

"What about Valen?" Rathenn asked.

" _His_ name is Jeffrey Sinclair," Delenn said. "He is not Valen, not anymore, or maybe not yet. I'll take care of him. We must appoint him to command the station the Humans will build. I will be the Minbari ambassador there."

"You can't!" Morann said. "The Council would be crippled. We need you here."

"Valen's soul is in him," Delenn answered. "We all agree that it is the most important thing, for now. Besides, the Vorlons implied that I should take this path."

They all nodded. It was a surprise, but the Vorlons had sent emissaries to sign the treaty too. Soon, the Centauri and the Narn requested to participate. The Humans were gathering the galaxy together, somehow. Even the Vorlons.

"Have you seen the plans to the station that the Humans sent us?" Helononn asked, his worker caste eyes flickering with excitement. "It was enormous, larger than any space station we have ever conceived. It could house millions. It would have cities, parks, streets, gardens!"

"It is impossible," Coplann stated. "The level of engineering required, as well as the resources must be inconceivable. To build something like that would cripple any economy."

"Have you seen their transmat technology? Have you heard from the prisoners sent back, about the replication technology?" Helononn asked. "If it is true, and I will not doubt anything the Humans build anymore, them our very concept of economy would be outdated to them."

"Well, let's see what comes from it," Delenn finally said.

 **Jericho System**  
 _ **Starfleet One:**_

"How is that possible?" President Elizabeth Levy asked, looking at the other surprised faces around the conference table and back to Admiral Martin. "Except for the abductions by the Vree in the early 20th century, Humanity has been isolated for pretty much all of its history! So, tell me, how could the Minbari have Human genes mixed with their genetic code?"

"We don't know, Madame President, we were just doing routine medical exams on the prisoners before shipping them back to Minbar when we found out. But we have theories," he paused. "As you all know, we asked the Centauri to give us all the information they had on the Minbari just before this war started. After the Saxony Incident, we asked them more. But not only military information or some cultural traits, we wanted everything."

"A wise move if I may say," Admiral Jakande stated. "I remember reading the reports. There was information about everything, from mythology and history to gastronomy. Everything we needed to understand their culture and tactics."

Admiral Martin nodded.

"Exactly. And the same reports are where our most probable theory comes from," he paused. "You see. The Human genes present in our prisoners are not recent. Our exams indicate that the genes have been introduced into the Minbari population around one thousand and three hundred years ago and we can trace their origins to a single individual."

"But Minbari and Humans can't reproduce, Admiral," the president said. "I am a biologist, I know that."

"You're right, Madame President, but we believe the Human from whom many Minbari may be able to claim ancestry wasn't completely Human when the mixing happened."

"What do you mean, Paul," Admiral Nohara asked.

"It was around one thousand and three hundred years ago that the most important event in Minbari history happened. We only know that an alliance led by the Minbari and, probably, the Vorlons was fighting an unknown enemy. They were loosing and the loss of their command center was just the final blow. The Minbari and their allies were ready to be exterminated. That's when Valen arrived. He was called ' _the Minbari not born of Minbar_ ' and he had with him a space station that became their new command center. Valen led the Minbari to victory and reformed their entire society before having children that mixed among the Minbari population. Before disappearing or either dying, Valen left a prophecy, that their enemy would return."

"That is an interesting story, Admiral," President Levy said. "But, while I can see that you think this Valen was somehow Human, I still don't see how."

"He wasn't abducted," Admiral Jakande said looking at nothing. "The most logical explanation behind the Minbari genetics is that this Valen brought Human genes into the Minbari race. However, Humanity was in its Medieval age at the time. Abducted or not, it's doubtful that a Human from 13th century Earth would be capable of coordinating tridimensional space combat, uniting several alien species, and integrating into an alien culture while transforming it completely... Oh," he paused and looked at Admiral Martin, sighing. "Paul, I think I already know what your theory is. Please, tell me it is not what I think it is."

"The only logical explanation is time travel," he answered with an apologetic expression.

Everyone sighed as if the weight of a star had been put on their shoulders. Everyone hated Temporal Mechanics. Worse, everyone hated trans-temporal politics.

"Then, the Temporal Department will take care of this," the president finally said. "I will sign an executive order revoking the ban on temporal historians from investigating Minbari history. We must know more.

"Do you think that Valen's prophecy has validity?" Admiral Hackett finally asked. He had been in silence during all the conference, but the idea of having to face an enemy that is probably at the same level as the Vorlons caught his attention.

"I think so," Admiral Martin said. "If we are right and Valen was really a time-displaced Human, then, we may be not talking about a prophecy made by someone in the past, but a warning by someone who already lived it."

The room remained in silence for a minute before someone spoke again.

"That's not the only thing we discovered," Admiral Martin said, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "We discovered a degenerative illness that has been plaguing the Minbari population. It makes reproduction extremely difficult. The Minbari population is probably shrinking as we speak. We know that they have a relatively high life expectancy, so we can expect that their population is aging. Their government certainly now about this."

"What does it have to do with us?" the President asked.

"Everything, Madame," Admiral Martin answered. "According to our studies, the poor genetic engineering used to link both Human and Minbari genomes is deteriorating and causing the illness. Certainly, the ones that did this, and I bet it was the Vorlons, weren't concerned about the long-term effects."

"Do you think we can cure it?" Admiral Nohara asked.

"I think so. But it will take time. Though our knowledge of genetic engineering is vast, interspecies reproduction is an area we know close to nothing about."

"We must organize a research project, then," the president said. "If we can find a cure, maybe we can use it as a diplomatic tool with the Minbari when we need it. Anything more?"

"No, madame."

"Good. We all have much to do."

The admirals sitting by the table flickered before their image disappeared as if they were never there, ending the holographic conference.

 **United Systems Federation  
Kingdom of Asgard  
Asgard  
 _Asgard City_ :**

Prince Alaric Svendsen, or, as he liked to be called, Ric, looked at the cityscape outside his room's window. The golden city shined as the sunlight of the early morning rose into the sky. His face with pleasure when feeling the cold air that flowed from the snowy peaks around the city. The traffic was already intense, cars flying around, carrying the people to their destinations. The sight from the Royal Palace was breathtaking, and Alaric loved his world like no other.

Yet, he could not wait to leave it.

He sighed. He has always been a free spirit, his mother used to say that. At the time, they hadn't yet realized the full implications of that. As a Royal Prince of Asgard, a member of the core Royal Family, Alaric was expected to remain in Asgard for life. Not the kind of life he sought.

Alaric looked back to his desk. The papers he had to read, the documents he had to sign. That's not what he was born for. He tried, God knows he did, but he couldn't anymore. It was as if there, on a planet, he couldn't breathe. On the other hand, in the vacuum of space, his lungs filled with excitement.

For two months he had tried to fulfill the role his father wanted him to. For two months he was Regent while his father went to Earth to the coronation of the new British monarch. Now he was back. Now was the time.

Alaric entered the Feast Room and sat by the table. He could see his father, as well as his mother and brothers already sat, eating.

"Ric," his mother called. "Glad you joined us."

Alaric just nodded and sat.

"You did a good job while I was out, son," his father complimented him.

"How was Arthur?" his mother asked his father. "Ric used to play with him when they were children. Do you remember, Ric, when Arthur used to spend the holidays here with us?"

Alaric just nodded.

"He is a king now, Helga," his father said. "He doesn't have time to think about the past. He has bigger responsibilities."

The room remained silent for some minutes.

"Now, Alaric," his father called, breaking the silence. "I'm proud of you. You handled your duties very well. You will make a good king when the time comes."

Alaric just looked down. He opened his mouth to answer but closed it.

"What is it, son?" his father asked.

Alaric looked up defiantly. The King of Asgard was a severe man, but Alaric has been handling him since he was born.

"I'm leaving, dad," he finally said.

The whole family looked at him, surprised.

"I thought-"

"No," Alaric interrupted his father. "I stayed here as your regent as a favor. My mind is unchanged."

"A favor?" King Axel asked angrily. "Doing your duty is not a favor! Our family has held the Throne of Asgard since it was a little colony with no more than a thousand people. Our family was chosen, four hundred years ago!"

"Exactly!" Alaric interrupted. "We _were_ chosen, we _didn't_ choose. _I_ didn't choose."

"Don't be selfish!" his father hissed. "I hadn't chosen it too. But here I am."

"On the contrary. You _did_ choose, to stay, to be a king. But I won't follow this path," he sighed. "As you well know, I accepted my promotion. I am now the captain of the Saxony. But that's not all. I volunteered for a ten-year exploration mission, beyond the Relay."

Again the room was silenced, he could see his mother close to crying, and his father red with anger. It didn't matter. He made his mind. He may have been born to be a king, but he chose differently. He chose to be an explorer.

"You can't," his father finally said.

"I actually can," he replied. "Despite your expectations, I am not required by law to follow them. My title does not negate my constitutional freedoms."

"When?" his mother asked.

"Today," he answered. "I already packed, the Saxony will pick me up in an hour. I stayed for the last months because I wanted to be with you before leaving for such a long time."

His mother nodded.

"About the line of succession," he started. "I'm abdicating of my place in the line of succession to the throne. Tristan, you always wanted this. It's up to you now."

His brother nodded.

Alaric looked at his father, who acted as if he wasn't noticing him. Alaric sighed. They finished the dinner and Alaric went to his room to get his luggage. The family was gathered in the main hall, everyone except his father.

They hugged and said goodbye. His mother was crying, but he couldn't back up now. He wouldn't.

When his comm badge beeped, he tapped it and was teleported to the Saxony, which was in orbit. His eyes were watery, but he couldn't ignore the pleasure he felt by being on this ship again.

"Captain Svendsen?" a woman wearing light armor greeted him.

"It's me," he answered. "Excuse me, I don't remember you. Are you new?"

"Yes, I'm your new Chief Security Officer. The last one died in Zafrari, as you know."

Alaric thought of him. Lieutenant Charlotte Morrell was her name. Another good friend he lost in that damned first contact. Well, at least not all of his friends were dead. When he enters the bridge, he'll find familiar faces such as Lucy and Marlon.

"Well, welcome to the Saxony, miss... what is your name, Lieutenant?" Alaric asked looking back at the woman.

"Regina Shepard, sir."

 **Vorlon System**  
 _ **Vorlon Prime:**_

For the first time in millennia, the collective minds of the Vorlon Empire were divided. The galaxy had been purged of the Atlanti thousands of years ago, and yet their doing still affected the Vorlons and their experiment.

To the relief of the High Lords of the Vorlon Empire, the Ascended Ones chose to abstain from interfering on this plane of existence, at least that was what they had thought. With the arrival of the Humans, the Vorlons uncovered the truth. They have been deceived. The Atlanti manipulated them to create the circle, to build it on a Human individual. The circle was not only contaminated, the circle was a trap all along! The Humans were an abomination! Such young race shouldn't hold such technology. They saw how dangerous these Humans were when a single Human ship destroyed a Vorlon cruiser in Sinzar.

But the High Lords wanted the mighty Vorlon Empire to play along!

They decided to show themselves, to sign the treaty the Humans proposed!

They decided to send an ambassador to the station the Humans were building!

Madness!

Kaldosh couldn't keep his anger to himself. His fellow Vorlons feeling his temper going wilder. His hatred of the Atlanti was known to all of his people.

"We cannot purge the galaxy of the Humans," one of the Vorlons spoke, his bioluminescent body glowing in the water environment they were in. "The Atlanti will not let us."

"They won't interfere, _he_ said that," Kaldosh said. "You know they believe the Humans can go against us. You are just afraid because they have technology we don't know!"

"The mountain is never afraid of the pebbles," other said.

"We must follow the circle," said another. "We must guarantee our victory against the Shadows. Then, we'll take care of the Humans."

"Agreed. They may even be useful. Let's push them against the Shadows, make the Darkness bleed!"

"We must end the Humans before they end us!" Kaldosh spoke angrily.

The other Vorlon minds laughed.

"You think the younglings could defeat us?" one asked mockingly.

"They were created to destroy us," Kaldosh said. "Why do you think the Atlanti have nurtured them, protected them, given them technology far beyond their station? They are their revenge incarnate."

"It's undeniable that they are powerful, but we have almost a million vessels at our disposal. Powerful or not, they certainly have less them a hundred thousand. Besides, we can't break into the Crescent. In a war, the Humans would have it as a safe haven from our retribution."

"We never actually wanted to break into the Crescent," Kaldosh replied. "Now, we have a reason to."

"Very well, Kaldosh," the High Lord spoke. "We all can sense that many share of your concerns. We will put our scientific minds to find a way of breaking into the Crescent so we can reach the Humans if we need to. Meanwhile, we follow as planned. Kosh?"

Kosh glowed as his cephalopod-like body swam to the center of the circle.

"Kosh," the High Lord called again. "You will be our ambassador on the station the Humans are building. Guide them, they will be important to our final victory against the Shadows."

"Yes," that was all Kosh said.

 **Year 2525**

 **Interstellar space  
** _ **Starliner 9771-1, Asgardian Starlines:**_

Looking out of the window, Stephen Franklin watched as white streams of light passed by in a glowing blue background. This was characteristic of warp travel and passed a feeling of speed that, say, jumpspace travel didn't.

Different from most Humans, Stephen has had the experience of traveling through jumpscace, though it wasn't particularly remarkable. It was during the Dilgar War. He was a member of the medical task force sent to provide medical aid to the League fleets just before the USF entered the war. Not that he would want to experience it again. The war, not the different races. The latter was just the reason he was here now.

The ships he worked in were so different from anything he could imagine as well as from each other. Most had no gravity, making Stephen realize how he missed it. The Gaim ships, if you could call those things ships, were nothing more than drones genetically engineered by the Gaim Queens. They weren't comfortable for a Human to be in, though Stephen is sure the Gaim feel the same. Maybe that's the reason why they dislike leaving their world so much. The Markab ships felt more like temples than starships. There was an altar with candles and offerings in every corner, and the series of religious protocol required was so boringly long that Stephen is surprised their civilization could survive at all. The Abbai ships were flooded, that's all he could say. He had to wear an environmental belt during the entire travel, but at least he could program it to block the smell of fish.

It wasn't that bad, actually. Stephen managed to save many lives and study many life-forms. That has been his dream since he was a child and he heard the first news about aliens. His father, of course, doesn't understand. ' _You're an amazing doctor'_ , he said, _'Why spend your talents with those aliens if you can use them to save your own people?_ '.

But as mighty as General Franklin is, he doesn't understand.

Life is life.

"Chicken pie," he said to the table in front of him, as a holographic screen showing hundreds of varieties of the dish he asked for appeared on it.

He passed some pages with his finger before choosing a delicious-looking one, passing his wrist on the table so it could debit the required energy credits.

As the dish materialized in front of him, Stephen turned the computer screen on

" _...Prince Alaric's decision to abdicate his place as heir to the Asgardian throne came as a surprise to many but was predicted by others. All over Asgard, people showed either support or disapproval to his decision. With this announcement, Prince Tristan Svendsen becomes the heir..."_

Stephen changed the channel. News. News. Debate. Documentary. Gastronomy. Documentary. Classic cartoons. Horror movie. He sighed. He wasn't actually in the mood for watching anything. Just the thought of his father disapproval was enough to embitter his mood. The movie seemed good though, he would enter the channel to watch it from the beginning later.

When Stephen laid down on the couch, the captain's voice sounded on the speakers. That is it. The streams of light out of the window disappeared as they were replaced by countless stars.

He looked out again, this time he could see a big space station, glowing like a snowglobe in space. His mood increased again, and his father became a distant memory. The station wasn't complete yet, but Stephen could already see entire cities on its radiating arms and rings. Many people were migrating to this new frontier. In the USF, quality of life was basically the same in a distant colony as in a core world, so people are not afraid of moving out to new colonies. This station is no different.

Wrong. This station _is_ different, or, at least, it will be soon. Now, it's being populated by Humans only, the entire system kept from the curious eyes of the other races, but in three years, when the station is completed, that will change. The system will be opened again. This station will be the heart of galactic diplomacy. A great experiment, Humans and aliens living together.

Stephen smiled while looking at the station. That's why he was here.

"Dear passengers," the captain's voice sounded at the speakers. " _We arrived at our destination. Local time 2:23 pm. Thank you for flying with the Asgardian Starlines, it's been a pleasure flying with you. We expect you to fly with Astar again. Welcome to Babylon 5._ "


	15. Chapter 9: Tower of Babel

**A/N: This is chapter nine. I hope you all enjoy it.** **I admit the previous chapter (and the one before it IIRC) was done somewhat in a rush and, as a non-native speaker of English, some errors may arrive that I only notice when I read it again. This one I have read at least three times before posting it. I'll be revising the other chapters sometimes, as well as updating the timeline as my story evolves. As you may have noticed, I have already modified the timeline sometimes to fit in the building narrative.** **Any opinions, suggestions, and questions, feel free to send a PM or write in the reviews.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

 **"Tower of Babel"**

 **Year 2528**

 **Epsilon Eridani System**

As the Sharlin passed through the twisting vortex of the jump point, Delenn saw it.

Distant, it looked like a small glowing dot in space, but she knew that it was so much more.

Babylon 5.

Like all members of the Grey Council, she had seen the schematics of the station the Humans had sent them just after the signing of their peace treaty. Like all members, she hadn't actually believed it could be built. It was bigger and more intricate than anything she and her people have ever dreamed of.

"Alyt," one of the young warriors called. "I can't detect any Quantium-40 in this jumpgate, just some form of antimatter. Something must be wrong with our sensors."

"Not at all," Delenn replied before the Alyt could. "This jumpgate must be of Human manufacture. We know they use antimatter as their main energy source."

They all nodded respectfully. The implications being too dire to mouth. No race could access jumpspace without Quantium-40. Yet, the Humans, a race that didn't know how to use jumpspace until less than half a century ago have managed to do the impossible.

As the ship got closer and closer, Delenn could get a better look of the station.

Beautiful was the word most appropriate. The station was a spherical translucent structure with a diameter seemingly equal to fifteen Sharlins lined up. Inside the sphere, a number of rings and arms radiated around a central nexus. When looking closer, Delenn gasped when she realized that there were entire cities built on those rings and arms. She looked around and saw that every Minbari in the room was just as surprised.

She was again surprised when she saw a Human ship, Vesta-class, if she recalls correctly, entering one of the large mounted doors and flying straight through one of the internal space lanes.

Groundbreaking, to say the least!

The Humans had kept the system in quarantine, far from the curious eyes of the other races, for the last ten years while building this station.

Certainly, in order not to dampen the impact of seeing it completed for the first time.

If so, they have succeeded.

"Satai Delenn," the Alyt called, taking her from her thoughts. "They are hailing us."

She nodded.

"Hide your surprised faces. I want everyone to appear unaffected. And do not call me Satai. They don't know of my position and it is important we keep it this way," she said. "Open the channel."

The holographic screen descended upon them. The image of Valen smiling at her and standing on what is certainly the station's command center almost made her loose balance.

 _No. He is not Valen_ , she told herself. _Not anymore, not yet_. But to think that she would be meeting with such an amazing soul on a regular basis. That was her mission, after all. To protect Valen's soul and watch the holder of such soul. After all, she was the one that required the Minbari be given the right to choose the station's commander when they signed the peace treaty that conceived this very station.

"Ambassador Delenn, I'm Commander Jeffrey Sinclair," he said, his tone alone transmitting authority and yet, kindness. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"I say the same, Commander."

"As you may have noticed, your ship is too big to pass through our space lanes. You will need to get into a shuttle to dock in Babylon 5. Or, maybe, we could just teleport you."

Delenn paled with the idea. Like many Minbari, she knew of the famed Human teleportation technology. And she feared it.

"I'd prefer not to, Commander. I'll be flying on my personal flyer."

"As you wish, Ambassador. Docking Bay Three is already cleared for you to dock in, it is exclusive to official and diplomatic ships. I'll meet you there."

"I look forward to that, Commander," she said, closing the channel.

 **Babylon 5  
** **Central Plaza  
 _Command & Control:_**

Just as the ambassador closed the channel, Commander Sinclair let out the breath he's been holding during their small conversation.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he spoke to his second in command, Laurel Takashima, while looking at the beautiful ship in the holographic screens.

"It looks like a fish," she replied. "I don't like fish."

Sinclair laughed and they exited C&C, walking to the docking bay.

"Ah, Commander Sinclair!" said a voice that made Sinclair sigh in annoyance.

"Ambassador Mollari," he replied with his best diplomatic smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh, I'm not asking anything. Just complimenting you and your government. It seems like the USF doesn't care about what something costs, just how long it takes to build! And your government is just so rich and so generous that I have anything I would want here."

"If that's so, I hope you enjoy the city," Sinclair answered before turning around and signaling Laurel to follow him.

"Commander!" Mollari called before he could leave.

Sinclair turned back.

"Ambassador?"

"I heard that Ambassador Delenn just arrived, eh?" he said. "Maybe I could go with you, to welcome her with best regards of the great Centauri Republic."

"I'm sorry, Ambassador."

"But, Commander-"

"David," he called one of his security officers walking by. "Why don't you show the Ambassador all of B5's touristic destinations?"

David nodded and promptly started guiding the Ambassador as far as possible from the Commander.

"But, Commander!"

"Bye, Ambassador," he turned to Laurel. "Tell me why did I choose this job, again."

"You _didn't_. For some reason _they_ picked _you_."

"Oh, right. That was it."

They laughed as they entered the monorail.

While walking to the docking bay, Sinclair looked at Laurel and sighed

"You know," he said. "We'll miss you, Laurel."

"I know," she sighed. "Babylon 5 will always have a place in my heart. But I am an explorer, Jeff. I wasn't born to be stuck in the same place for more than a year."

"I understand."

"But don't worry. I know Lieutenant Ivanova and she is a very good officer. She has commanded the Io Station for years and I trust her."

"If you say so."

"I won't leave for some months yet," she turned to the bay. "Look, there she is."

They waved to Ambassador Delenn, who looked up at them and promptly went in their direction.

"Ambassador," Sinclair greeted. "Welcome to Babylon 5."

"Thank you, Commander. It's a wonder of engineering that you have here."

"Thank you. This is Lieutenant Commander Laurel Takashima, my second-in-command.

Laurel nodded to Delenn, who nodded back. Suddenly, Laurel's comm badge beeped.

"Takashima," she answered.

"Ma'am, there is a problem in Docking Bay One, a Narn ship got impatient and crashed on a Centauri civilian ship, and now they are threatening war on each other and blocking the entrance.

"You should just call Garibaldi for that matter, ensign."

"But," he paused. "The Narn ship is carrying Ambassador G'Kar, ma'am."

"That kind of thing doesn't happen in Human space," Laurel sighed. "Well, Commander, I'll go now, " Sinclair nodded. She turned to Delenn, "Ambassador."

"What did she mean by that, Commander?" she asked.

"It's just that in Babylon 5 we deal with issues that are rare in Human space."

"What kind of issues?" she asked.

"Racial rivalries, smuggling, espionage, segregation. We have to deal with them a lot here."

Delenn nodded. Then, she looked up again.

"Commander," she called. "When I was passing by Immigration, they gave me... something, that they put on my left wrist."

She showed him his wrist, where a white dot the size of a grain of rice was visible.

"Ah, didn't they explain it to you?" When she shook her head, he continued. "It is an ID link. It has all of your identification data, as well as a direct link to your account."

"My account?"

"Yes. We don't use physical money. Every Human citizen and everyone staying in Human space has an account which they use to make all kinds of transactions."

"Oh," she said, looking at her wrist.

"Every time you order something on a replicator or open a Starnet website, you use the link. It is personal and can't be stolen or used by others. It is also used to enter your accommodations."

"Ingenious," she said. "But what is this Starnet?"

"It's our computer network. All Human computers and replicators are connected to it by subspace. It is used to do anything, transactions, research, to communicate, to transmit mass media..."

The monorail's door opened and they entered, sitting on the very comfortable chairs by the windows.

"It's so big," Delenn whispered while looking at the city passing rapidly out of the window.

"This station can house up to nine million people. It is divided into eighteen arms, each capable of housing half a million people. Each arm is a sector, from 1 to 18. The 18th sector is the Alien Sector and where the Avenue of Nations is. There is also a 19th sector, which is the central nexus where all of the station's operations are held, as well as air and water recyclers, matter reclamation, raw matter depôts, main cargo bays, and the main reactors."

"It must take an immense amount of energy to power this habitat."

"It does," he replied. "We use seven XL grade antimatter reactors and more than one hundred auxiliary tetryonic fusion cores."

Delenn thought about what the Commander said. She couldn't even start to quantify the amount of energy this station must generate.

"It looks almost... fragile, though," she said.

Commander Sinclair smiled at her.

"It's the translucent part, isn't it?" she nodded. "Well, it certainly looks fragile, but it is built with transparinum, an artificial transparent metal, harder than the macromolecular glass used by the other races and almost as hard as our ship's duranium/tritanium alloy hulls."

Delenn's eyes widened, surprised. Them, she looked at him again.

"By the way, there is something I've been wondering. Why name it _Babylon 5_?"

"Well... this station has two namesakes, actually. One of them is the station called Babylon 4. It was one of the four space stations build by the Babylon Project in the last decade of the 21st century. B4 disappeared suddenly just after it was finished. That's still one of the biggest mysteries in Human history."

"But why name this station after that other?"

"Because the Babylon stations were symbols of hope," he smiled at her confused expression. "You must understand, Ambassador, that it was almost a decade before warp drive. Humanity had just been through a third world war that killed a billion people. We were still prisoners to Earth. Space travel was dangerous, but we already dreamed of colonizing the stars. The four Babylon stations were the first true unified effort of the nations of Earth. They were fully mobile and mostly self-sufficient. They were supposed to act as generational ships, looking for new planets to colonize.

"It sounds dangerous," she said. "Your species seems to have struggled to reach the stars. The Minbari never used generational ships. The dangers that could lie beyond our star system were just too great to ignore."

"We hadn't met any aliens yet, but we knew they were a possibility, so we armed the stations with everything we had at the time. Railguns, primitive beam weapons, missiles... We hoped for the best but we knew that the Universe is not concerned with what we want..." he looked forward, certainly losing himself in his thoughts.

"Indeed," she replied, losing herself in her thoughts too.

After some minutes, she shook herself from the bliss.

"What happened to the other stations?" she asked.

"We developed warp drive less than a decade later. Soon we picked up everyone we had sent out there, including the stations."

Delenn's expression frowned with understanding.

"You said this station was named after another thing too."

"Oh, yes. It was named after the Tower of Babel."

"Tower of Babel?"

"It is a very old Human myth. It says that millennia ago, all of Humanity spoke the same language and was united. Then, for some reason, we decided to build a tower high enough to reach the heavens and touch the face of God."

"Very foolish of them," Delenn stated.

"Agreed. Everyone that would think of doing such thing is a fool," he said. "Well, God didn't like it. So, he confounded Men's speech so they could not understand each other anymore and scattered them around the world. Supposedly, the lesson learned is to not try to match God."

"It's an interesting story, and an important lesson as well. But I fail to recognize its connection to this station, Commander."

"Oh, of course. There are some things in Human culture that are so well known among us that sometimes we can't even conceive of someone who doesn't know them," he smiled. "Babel is just another name for Babylon, the city where the tower is said to have been built in and one of the oldest cities in Human recorded history. We just thought that 'Babylon 5' could be fitting, as a reversion of the damage caused by the Tower of Babel. One confounded our languages and divided us, the other will allow us to understand each other and be united."

"It's a beautiful dream," Delenn murmured.

"Yet one that is not shared by all of Humanity..." he said sadly. Then he looked at the window. "Well, here we are, Ambassador."

They exited the monorail to a beautiful and wide street. In front of her, stood a beautiful and tall building in Minbari architectural style. It's light green crystalline walls shined. Looking around, Delenn could see that each building in the street was beautifully built in a different alien architectural style.

"This is the Ambassadorial Avenue," Commander Sinclair said, while they entered the building. "Each embassy was built by the USF in the race's native architecture. It was a gift, to show the other races our goodwill."

Delenn nodded while they walked in. She noticed that the interiors were amazingly accurate. Too accurate, actually. That alone terrified her. If they could recreate Minbari interiors with such accuracy, that means that her people have been watched somehow. They could even know who she is!

This _gift_ was certainly so much more. Some form of intimidation, undoubtedly. It worked. She was very intimidated. And she was sure that all the other governments would be as well.

"Finally," Commander Sinclair said when they reached an ordinary looking door. "That is the ambassadorial flat. But before you enter you must choose its configuration."

Delenn was about to ask what he was talking about when he just passed his hand on the panel and a large holographic screen appeared in front of them, showing dozens of different Minbari-style interiors.

"You choose one of them, and the room will instantaneously reproduce the accommodations," he said.

Delenn nodded, her face pale. She raised her hand, noticing that she was trembling, and tapped the holographic screen, choosing a spartan-looking religious-style room.

They stood in front of the door for a second, before it opened. Delenn begged the universe for the room not to be the one she chose and yet, when she saw it, she forced herself to keep an unaffected face. She was looking at a spacious Minbari home, impeccable in its accuracy. Only one thing was out of place, an odd alcove of sorts in the wall.

"Well, that's your flat, Ambassador," he walked to the only thing that seemed out of place in the room. "This is your personal replicator. You can order any food or drink from our database. We did our research, so we have many Minbari dishes too. But you can just order the ingredients and cook yourself in the kitchen if you want to. There are also plenty of restaurants and marketplaces in the city."

Delenn nodded.

"When you want to use a computer, the flat will materialize a holographic screen that you can move around as you want. With it, you can enter the Starnet and watch the news, make research, anything."

Delenn nodded again.

"Well," the Commander said. "I think that's all. Anything you want, you can call me, Ambassador."

"Thank you, Commander."

When he left the room, Delenn sat by the table, lost in her thoughts. If they knew how to build Minbari buildings, how to decorate Minbari homes, if they know how to replicate Minbari food, then, they certainly have been spying on them without them noticing. That was unacceptable, despite the fact that the Minbari themselves had been trying to do the same thing, without much success. The Council needs to know.

"Flarn," she said to the replicator and the traditional Minbari dish shimmered to existence. She took a bite, begging the universe for her to find some error.

She didn't.

Sighing, she decided to distance her thoughts from these things, for now.

"Computer," she called for the computer and a holographic screen appeared in front of her.

" _Recognized. Ambassador Delenn,_ " the voice of the computer replied. " _Alien Resident status, Diplomatic class, rank 1. Level three access granted._ "

"Explain," she asked curiously.

" _The level of access to the United Systems Federation Integrated Network, the Starnet, is calculated based on status, class, and rank. Citizen status, Civil class, no rank, allows for unrestricted access to the totality of the Starnet's open database, which includes replication patterns, public information, and mass media. Citizen status, Military or Official class, ranks 6 to 1 allows for access to different restricted information and communication channels. Alien Resident status, Civil or Military class, no rank, allows for restricted access to the Starnet's database. Alien Resident status, Diplomatic class, ranks 3 to 1 allows for restricted access to the Starnet's database and different communication channels._ "

"I see," she said to herself. It wasn't unexpected, actually. Like the Minbari, the Humans were not only more advanced than most races but also lived in a relatively isolated society. With so many aliens, foreign citizens, living in a Human station, having access to Human knowledge, it would be threatening to their technological superiority if they didn't put some restrictions.

"Well," Delenn said. "Then, open Starnet."

The screen changed to a mostly white page with Human script in the center.

"What is _Google_?" she asked herself, looking at the word that appeared on the screen.

" _Google is a search engine developed in the early 21st century that reached the apex of its use in the first half of the century. Nowadays, the Google brand is still in use, though the engine has evolved and the company that owns it have lost a large share of the market after the widespread liberalization caused by the emergence of the current economic system,_ " the computer's voice sounded suddenly.

"Oh. Right. Then, search keywords 'Tower of Babel' and 'Babylon'."

Hundreds of results appeared instantly.

Delenn spent several minutes watching and reading about this fascinating Human myth. She found Human culture to be very interesting. Their notions of good and evil, of God and supernatural beings. The morality of the myth. The humility it teaches.

"Search keyword 'Babylon 4'," she asked the computer.

Her eyes widened when the image appeared onscreen.

It couldn't.

It couldn't be.

She remembered it from the surviving records of the Great War kept in secret by the Grey Council. It wasn't just similar. It was the same station! She looked at the other three Babylon stations and they were all similarly build, but each one unique.

It can't be.

Unless...

Her eyes widened.

She looked at the door from which Commander Sinclair had left.

Sinclair...

Valen!

She closed the screen and sat on the carpet, lighting the candles around her. She must meditate, to find the right course of action. However, if she was right in her theories, she must do nothing and say nothing.

Time will follow its course.

 **Human space  
** **Paris, Earth:**

The dusk was already falling on the City of Light and its boulevards and streets were starting to sparkle and illuminate. The traffic, however, was still intense, flying over the buildings while people walked to all directions on the ground. Different from other historical cities such as London, Paris has never been much open to high skyscrapers, both for structural and cultural reasons. Because of that, the city has kept its unique style, and few high buildings such as the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the skyscrapers in La Défense and other outer regions could be seen in the city's skyline. That uniqueness, that immutability, was one of the reasons why the city was chosen to be the USF's seat of power, just like Geneva had been chosen to be the headquarters of Earth's unified government centuries before. Now, the Terran Federation was just another member-planet within the USF, and most decisions not falling to its internal jurisdiction were made in Paris.

From the windows of the Palais de la Concorde, the presidential office, President Luis Santiago could do nothing but remember of his home city of Buenos Aires. The layout of the streets, the opulent architecture, the cultural refinement in the air...

"Mister President," his personal aid called him from his thoughts. "Admiral Hackett is here."

"Thank you, Leon. Let him in."

Santiago sat at his desk and nodded to the Admiral as he entered.

"Mister President," he greets.

"Steven, please, be comfortable," Santiago said, signaling for him to sit. "I'm aware that everything is going well on Babylon 5."

"Yes, Mister President," Hackett answered. "Ambassadors Mollari of the Centauri and G'Kar of the Narn were the first to arrive, about five weeks ago. They made some fuss, but that was already expected of them. Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari arrived just a week ago, and in the period in between several League star-nations went there to sign the Babylon Protocol as well."

"They know that they will only have a say as one, right?" the President asked. "One vote in the Babylon 5 Council to the League against one to each of the permanent members. We, the Minbari, the Centauri, the Narns, and the Vorlons, the founding members of the Council."

"They know that, sir. We made it clear that it was primarily a treaty between the larger powers."

"Good," Santiago stated. "I don't want to have a diplomatic crisis in our hands because they suddenly started wanting more."

Hackett nodded.

"About Satai Delenn-"

"You mean _Ambassador_ Delenn, Mister President," Hackett interrupted. "For what I was informed, she didn't reveal her true standing in the Minbari government. Undoubtedly she thinks we don't know she is a member of the Grey Council."

"The Minbari think that we know much less than we actually do," Santiago said. "But like China in the 19th century, they thought of themselves as the center of the universe for too long, and that has been true for some time. Now that they found people who can shake their very notions of reality, they find it hard to adapt."

"That's true and, as history has told us many times, this kind of situation is rich soil for the growth of reactionary groups that try at any cost to reestablish the status quo."

"So I've heard."

"They call themselves Fen'Shai, it means 'pure leaders' in their warrior dialect, Len'na," Hackett explained. "As we would expect, the warrior caste seems to be the one that supports them the most, having lost their position as the top dogs of the galaxy.

"It's not like we have no similar concerns," the President stated. "The Homeguard, Terra Firma... They make me wonder if we have really gone beyond the petty attitudes that made us almost blow ourselves out of existence in World War Three."

"They are concerns, of course, but we are working to contain them. The same cannot be said of the Grey Council. They know of groups such as Fen'Shai but they are not doing anything yet. Not only two of the three Satais of the warrior caste have shown, if not full support, at least sympathy toward them, but the Minbari society has been stable and rigid in a magnitude that never happened in Human history since the Industrial Revolution. They actually don't know what to do with dissidence and they probably think that if they let it pass, it will."

"Well, they will learn from experience," Santiago stated. "The alternative is the collapse of their entire civilization or, at best, its complete transformation."

"It will be difficult, though. The Minbari don't even know the concept of revolution."

President Santiago sighed. The Minbari Federation may be not very open, but they were feared and respected. An example of a stable and enlightened society to the other races. They have prestige and their support will be needed if Humanity wants to live peacefully in this wider galaxy without having to conquer all the other races to pacify them like some extremist groups seemed to advocate.

No. That was not how Humanity wanted to be remembered in history. They are scientists, explorers, artists. Soldiers, when need be. But not conquerors.

"We may be forced to hold back the cure to their reproductive problems for a while," Santiago said. "Until they have lost some of their pride, so we do not damage their society by saving them," he laughed." Our medical personnel is calling the disease Minbari Genophagic Disorder, as it damages the very genetic code of the reproductive cells before the formation of the embryo, leading to early abortion in most of the cases."

"They have even named it. Typical," Hackett laughed. But then his expression became serious again. "As you have just entered the office, Mister President, you must be made aware of a mission the Department of Temporal Affairs sent to the 13th century eight years ago."

President Santiago signaled for him to continue.

"They discovered that Valen, basically the Minbari messiah, was actually a time-traveling Human."

"Time-traveling?" Santiago asked. "Not time-displaced?"

"Yes, Mister President."

"How could this happen? The DTA is the only party authorized to make use of advanced temporal technologies and they would never send a Human back to the past to change some alien race's history."

"That's the thing, sir," he answered. "Valen... well, he didn't use Human temporal technology. He was transported by a temporal rift generated by the machine in Epsilon III."

The President's eyes widened. The planet has been under strict quarantine since the USF started building Babylon 5. They had discovered not only remains of an old civilization under the surface but a working machine complex that spanned an entire continent. They have tried to establish contact many times, always being met with aggressive countermeasures. No one was harmed, thankfully. The planet's weaponry was powerful enough to tear through anything the other races had, and could even harm Human ships. Starfleet decided to build the station far enough from the planet to not draw the attention of its automated defenses and leave the mysterious party alone until they want to be contacted. But to think that the machine could open a temporal rift...

"It is a less refined way of traveling through time," Hackett continued. "Not nearly as advanced as ours. But that is not the most astonishing revelation. Minbari history says that Valen arrived with a space station he gave the 'Army of Light' as a gift to help the war against their enemy, a supposedly extinct race of so-called 'First Ones' known only as the Shadows."

"Yes, Admiral, I'm aware of this piece of history."

Hackett smiled.

"What none of us had been aware before the expedition, and most people still don't know yet, is that this station is not any station, but Babylon 4."

"Babylon 4 disappeared in the 21st century," the President said.

"And yet, somehow, it was found by Valen. The temporal agents sent to investigate decided against speaking with him, to not tamper with the timeline, so we don't know how he had found it. Also, the Vorlon's almost omnipresence in the known space's past is not only odd but a danger to our investigations. They can detect us even when cloaked. It seems that, despite our natural resistance to telepathy, they can _feel_ our presence or something about the _taste_ of our minds. We know that their ships enhance their telepathic abilities."

"Isn't it dangerous to the timeline?" The president asked.

"Definitely!" He replied. "The Éonns told us to be do anything to prevent interaction with the Vorlons in the past. They are pretty sure that we wouldn't be standing here now if the Vorlons knew beforehand how advanced we are. That is why soon after the mission President Levy signed an executive order forbidding any temporal transit, even for temporal historians, to the past."

President Santiago nodded.

"Anyway, this Valen issue explains how Human DNA was introduced to the Minbari population," Santiago murmured. "But what about him? Have we identified him yet?"

"Yes, sir," Hackett responded. "It was pretty easy, considering that he is in Starfleet. His name is Jeffrey Sinclair, a Commander. XO of Babylon 5."

"That makes sense," Santiago replied. "No one expected he would be chosen to command the station. The Minbari government just rejected all names we presented them until we came up with Commander Sinclair. That can only mean that they know."

"But if they knew, we would know too," Hackett replied. "Except if they deemed this information so important that they would, surprisingly, not trust their own security. They may deem this information as too harmful to their society, just as we think releasing the cure to their disorder now would be."

"Exactly, and that would explain Satai Delenn's playing ambassador."

"Commander Sinclair certainly doesn't know," Hackett stated. "The Minbari wouldn't let him know."

The President nodded.

"We must do nothing, for now," he said. "We will just watch Commander Sinclair and Ambassador Delenn."

"What about those Shadows?" Hackett asked. "According to Valen's 'prophecy' they will return and, if our temporal agents are correct, they are at least the level of the Vorlons."

President Santiago sighed. The level of technology of the races of this region was nothing compared to Humanity's, except for the Vorlons. According to the Éonns, they are a race billions of years old that could do real damage if they attacked the USF. The truth is that they were afraid of them, afraid of the Vorlons. Humanity had reached a level of weapon technology comparable to them. In some areas, they were more advanced, in others less so. They could fight them but, in the end, the Vorlons were a mysterious threat that claimed a huge area of space. If they managed to develop a way to breach into the Crescent...

"One thing at the time, Steven," President Santiago replied. "First we must stabilize our neighborhood. Then, we can hunt shadows."

 **Babylon 5  
** _ **Eden Park:**_

As Delenn exited the ambassadorial car given to her in a wooded and green location, she took a deep breath and smelled the pure air, something she never thought possible in a space station. Yet, here she was, walking into Eden Park, one of the many green areas and gardens in Babylon 5.

Fascinated by the plant life, the people gathered and talked while sitting on the lawn, or playing the most diverse sports, the restaurants releasing smells she had never smelled before. Delenn went straight to the path she was new.

Delenn remembered the first time she's been here. Pressing the ID link in her wrist, a holographic bracelet had glowed to life, showing many different icons, most of which she didn't even know how to use. She then passed her index finger on the hologram until she found the icon she was looking for. Pressing it, a holographic map appeared in front of her, showing her the path she has to walk. The place she found was becoming a staple in her routine.

After some minutes, she arrived in a quiet place surrounded by plants that, through one of her link's applications, she knew were called bamboos.

Delenn sat on a bench facing the thing she came to see. It was an arrangement carefully composed of rocks, water features, moss, trees. She closed her eyes and felt it. She felt what she has been looking for, the peace, the serenity, the positive energy. She had found a place to meditate.

"Ambassador Delenn," a voice she knew and already was fond of took her out of her own mind. "I've seen you here before, almost every day. If you don't mind me asking, what-"

"Notice the waves," she said serene, ignoring his unfinished question. "Each moving in its own order. Predictable, unchanging. But drop in a single stone and see how the pattern changes. Everything around is altered," she paused. "This is from your world?"

"Yes, Ambassador, it is," Sinclair replied. "It is a Japanese stone garden, also known as a Zen garden. It's a place for meditation and spiritual relaxation."

"I understand," Delenn nodded. "It's surprising that your government would build a place like this."

"Not at all," he replied. "It's common for my people to build green areas in most space stations and even ships. It's a... cultural thing, I think. We almost destroyed our world centuries ago. Now, I think we just can't leave it behind without bringing a part of it with us. You should see the Hanging Gardens, in Sector 12."

"I see," she looked at him and smiled. "I am glad it is here. In my world, there are books, thousands of pages about the power of one mind to change the universe. But none says it as clearly as this stone garden or, I suppose, this station."

"I suppose you have a point," he nodded.

"I believe so," she replied. "Very well, I am told that in two days Ambassador Kosh arrives. I look forward to meeting a Vorlon, and I suppose you must do as well. I've heard many things about them that are strange."

"Such as?

"Do you not have files on the Vorlons?"

"Absolutely," he smiled. "Very large files. There's practically nothing in them, of course, only what we could figure out about their technology from our scans from the times we found them. We know some things about their weapon systems and such."

"That is more than most races," Delenn replied.

"Still, we have nothing about the Vorlons themselves. We know very loosely how their ships work, but not about who pilot them. Who are they? What do they want?"

Delenn shivered when he said that last question but she dropped it.

"What do you have?" Sinclair asked.

"More than you, it would seem," she replied mysteriously, smiling soon after. "At least when regarding information about the Vorlons, not their technology. Naturally, it's all classified."

"Naturally," Sinclair chuckled.

"Here is a copy of what I am willing to share," she said, taking a data crystal out of her dress. "I know your people do not use data crystals, but I also know you have adapters to use. Anyway, if anyone asks, say it fell from the sky. I imagine I will be quite astonished by this breach of security."

"Why?" he asked. "I mean, the war is over between us has been ten years, but there are still people on both sides who would hang us both for this kind of thing."

"Commander, you may know everything about this stone garden," she rose and smiled at him. "But clearly, you have not spent nearly enough time looking at it. Good day."

He turned at the stone garden, trying to decipher her words, as she walked away.

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, if you haven't noticed, this Babylon 5 is based on the Starbase Yorktown from Star Trek: Beyond. Since I watched it, the station has been stuck in my mind for its beauty and uniqueness. Some may doubt the capacity of Kirk's era Federation, alternate reality or not, to build such station. But it does good in embodying the spirit of the Federation. Anyways, no doubt the USF can build it. Also, I wanted something to compete with the Citadel when they make contact with the Mass Effect races, but nothing too much such as a ringworld or a Dyson sphere. Remember that the Atlanti (based on the Forerunners from Halo) were the ones building megastructures, and Humanity has already discovered some of them, as well as given a thought about building something similar**.


	16. Chapter 10: The Tragedy of the Old Lion

**First, I'm sorry for the astonishingly big delay. I really had a writer's block and, though I'm following B5's timeline, I'm having a problem in adapting it to THB.**

 **Second. I think I'm in need of someone who has a deeper knowledge of Mass Effect to help me. If you're used to discussing in forums, you may be useful to the story. Also, I'm in need of someone to help me develop the geopolitical intrigue. I'm already writing sketches of how the political landscape of the B5 space will develop and I need someone to discuss it and the plots I'm developing with me, so I can improve it. If you are more knowledgeable in those matters, PM me.**

 **Third. I'm thinking about getting someone's help to write a story about the USS Gagarin traveling through the multiverse, or maybe letting someone write and publish it. Imagine something like _Jeanine Bouvier and the Paths of the Multiverse_ , or something like that.**

 **I kinda started this chapter months ago, so those are answers to quite old questions.**

 **To iZuikaku:  
** _Actually, displaced Humans are out of question, at least for now. Lost colonies won't appear because of two main reasons. First, the Humans had never had contact with aliens who could displace them, except for the Vree, but they didn't do that. Second, the Humans discovered warp drive very early, in the 2090s. All Humans who were sent to colonize extra-solar worlds before that were just picked up afterward. But remember that Captain Bouvier is exploring the multiverse alongside the Viatori (AKA the Walkers of Sigma-957) and I wouldn't throw away the chance to make one or two references..._

 **To Eaglestorm27:**  
 _I admit that, at first, I intended to go this way and make USF membership accessible to alien nations. Now, I just realized it doesn't fit the mindset of the Humanity I created. They are rather isolationistic and xenophobic. They don't hate aliens (most of them) but they do have a rather big skepticism towards full integration of aliens within Human society. Not only B5's aliens are too different to be fully integrated (Star Trek's aliens don't have such problem, at least not so profoundly, because of the Preservers), but different from (Enterprise era) Star Trek's and B5's Humanity, THB's Humanity is more advanced than everyone else. They didn't enter the galactic stage as primitive newcomers. Now, they won't build a United Federation of Planets-like nation-state, but I totally see them contributing to the creation of a more loosely held Interstellar Alliance (not much more integrated than present-day UN and probably less than the European Union) among the B5 races to balance the unity of most Mass Effect races under the Citadel Council. So, no, I don't see the USF sharing any technology. Maybe some medical knowledge or artificial gravity but nothing even close to threatening._  
 _Second. I don't see the Centauri trying to develop further because of Humanity. Remember that they are a stagnant and decadent empire that is more concerned with internal power disputes and leisure. It was only after Cartagia and Mollari that they started to become more militant (after that happens, we might see the Centauri Republic, one of the oldest younger races, actually showing how powerful they!). About the Minbari, well, two words: White Star. Remember that most of their technological advancements come from the Vorlons so, despite the Human threat to those self-righteous squids being very real, I see them behaving the same way when helping the Minbari to develop the Whitestar as they would in OTL Babylon 5._  
 _Third. Actually, being Human technology based on Star Trek's technology, you can say they already have it. The Federation already uses subspace fields to lower the mass of their ships, and you can be sure that the USF does the same. The surprise after discovering eezo and the interest in it are because of the unexpectedness of having a naturally occurring substance that does the same so easily._

 **To the ones whose only identification is "Guest":  
** _THB's Asgardians are nothing more than Humans with culture and architecture based on MCU Asgardians. They are Humans though. Like it has been established, many cultures beyond those we can find on Earth developed in the 500 years Humanity has been to space. I'll be presenting those new Human cultures and worlds during the story, just like I presented Valinor.  
The Atlanti are based on Stargate Alterans/Ancients/Lanteans, as well as Star Trek Q's race and Halo Forerunners. They weren't Humans, but Human-looking First Ones with abilities that likened them to mythological gods, both physically and mentally (think of them as physically like the Asgardians from MCU and those you see in Agents of SHIELD). They were strong, fast, resistant, and lived tens of thousands of years. They were also powerful telepaths and telekinetics (as showed in the Prelude). But, as already stated, they ascended, so they are way beyond that now._

 **To Sabatie: _  
_** _Yes, the Humans mimic the First Ones in some way. Though I make it clear again that they are only technologically advanced. They are still biologically primitive and you won't see them ascending nor developing any superhuman ability (at least not for the next tens of thousands of years). They are only Humans with a lifespan of about 200 years that age slower than us and have stronger immune systems. Nothing more. The Asgardians are Humans, descendants form Humans from Earth and only their culture, architecture, and other aspects are similar to MCU Asgardians. Actually, by the middle to the end of the story, I'm gonna explain why THB's universe seems to be an amalgam of many other fictional universes. _About their seeming righteousness and compassion, it will change. Not drastically, not with all of them, but it will. Remember that Humanity has been isolated and in peace for hundreds of years (a period they call Pax Humana). They are like Wakanda from MCU, proud, secretive, advanced. Now that they opened themselves to the wider universe, they are in this first moment of amazement with the new and the beautiful. But this feeling won't last, at least not as strongly. Some Humans already saw horror with the Dilgar War, others saw the threat that aliens can be with the Minbari War. Remember that the Shadows, the Thirdspace Aliens, the Reapers, and the Ardori are still to come. It will be a mess and Humanity will want nothing to do with it, despite being caught in the middle of it. In this chapter, you will see the beginnings of this change in attitude. It is expected of Humanity. They had unimaginable peace and prosperity for generations. The horror and ugliness of the universe will hurt their eyes and the foul odor of war and conflict will burn their noses. They will be able to taste it, and they won't like the taste. That will change them.  
About the Tier system, it will be exclaimed, or should I say developed, throughout the story. The Codex Entries are a feature of the Mass Effect universe, which can be compared to our Wikipedia pages about countries, races, and historical events. So, the Entries are in-universe features that I shared with the real-world readers. The people in Mass Effect space are reading them (or should I say will read them, since they weren't published yet). About the USF's tier, Tier 1 is First One level (technology-wise), so the Minbari would be Tier 2 or 3. Tier 0 is the ascended beings, the Atlanti and the Ardori.  
__

 **To IamKroGan1 and other users who asked me that on PM: _  
_** _As I had told you all earlier, the timeline is subject to change. Actually, it is more of a guideline to me than to you, though I decided to post it because I wasn't even supposed to write a story. It was an idea that I thought other people would take on and develop. Anyways, the timeline is changing to fit my developing story. Jonas Wu was there only to fill a place. Now, I decided it will be Captain Regina Sheppard (my take on the already malleable Shepard character) the one responsible for destroying Bahak. About the trial thing, the destruction of the Bahak System in Mass Effect killed about 200,000 people (I think). This is enough to be considered genocide. The Council wouldn't listen to reason and believe it was the only way to save the galaxy from the Reapers, they still didn't believe in the Reapers by then, remember? Anyway, they needed a scapegoat, and the USF, as much 'enlightened' as we think they are, won't defend a genocidal mass murderer. This trial would be an olive branch from the USF to the Council, as well as Humanity washing their hands from the Reaper issue._

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

 **"The Tragedy of the Old Lion"**

 **Epsilon Eridani System  
Babylon 5  
Zocalo:**

"Mister Garibaldi," Lt Commander Ivanova called. "Have you seen the Commander? I tried the Comm-link but he's not responding."

Garibaldi turned to her.

"Well, in that case, he's in the Eastern Observation Dome, at the Eastern Docks," he answered.

"How do you know?"

"Ah, right," he said."You're new here. He only turns off his link for ten minutes a day. And when he does, there is where you can find him."

Ivanova looks at him confused

"But why?" she asks. "There's no traffic doing now and the docking bays are closed. No one is there."

"Exactly," Garibaldi answers with a smile, with Ivanova nodding in realization just before thanking him and leaving.

"Ah, Mister Garibaldi," calls a voice that Garibaldi didn't want to recognize

"Oh boy," he murmurs before turning to Ambassador Mollari. "Ambassador Mollari. What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for someone who could guide me through the fascinating world of Human culture."

"Excuse me?" Garibaldi says. "You are interested in our culture?"

"Of course I am. Especially your amazing variety of alcoholic beverages!"

"Why I'm not surprised," Garibaldi sighs.

"Ah, don't, please don't, Mister Garibaldi," Mollari puts his hand on Garibaldi's shoulder, guiding him to the nearest bar. "I've been in this station for almost a year by now, plus my years as the Centauri ambassador to Earth, and I still have not tasted everything on the menu! Your species made it extremely difficult for me! You not only have developed unaccountable different beverages, but you also are continuously creating new drinks and cocktails by mixing the ones you already have!"

"I don't see what it has to do with me, Londo."

"I have taken it as a personal challenge! I'll be proud to be the first Centauri to taste every Human drink, and I will present you to the marvels of Centauri brewing too, eh?" Londo looked at him expectingly.

"No."

"No?" Londo asked, his expression not faltering. "Come on, Mister Garibaldi. All I'm asking is that you trust me!"

"Trust you? Londo, my brain will be five days dead before I ever trust a Centauri."

"Eh?"

"The first time we met your people, you told us you practically ran the entire galaxy. What was it you said? _A huge empire!_ " He said mockingly imitating Londo's voice.

"Ah, come on," Londo replied defensively. "Public relations!"

"Only that hasn't been true for more than a hundred years," Garibaldi continued. "Then you gave us this line about how _Earth was some lost Centauri tribe_ , making us distant relatives. Except that we had already analyzed you with our sensors. No relation at all. Appearance aside, we are two completely different species."

"A clerical error," Londo replied, raising his hands apologetically.

"Clerical error?"

"Yes. We thought your world was Beta 9, it was actually Beta 12. Ok, we made a mistake. I'm sorry," he extends his hand to Garibaldi. "Here, open my wrists."

"Centauri don't have major arteries in their wrists," Garibaldi pointed out.

"Of course we don't," Londo replied. "What do you think I am, stupid?"

Garibaldi rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Do you know what your problem is, Mister Garibaldi?" Londo asked. "You're not a people person-"

"Ambassador," a short and rather chubby Centauri interrupted, calling from some distance before reaching them. "Ambassador!"

"Ah, Mister Garibaldi. Have you met my new diplomatic staff?" Londo asked while the other Centauri tried to speak. "Just arrived from the homeworld, this is it."

"Ambassador!"

"Yes, Vir. What is it?" An annoyed Londo interrupted him.

"Our colony, Ragesh III? Our agricultural colony?"

"Yes, I know what it is. What about it?" Londo asked, seemingly even more annoyed than a moment ago.

"It's under attack!" Vir finally answered. "No provocation, no warning. They got through the minefields and now they are firing at anything that moves. Fighters. Wave after wave, after wave..."

"Who launched the attack?" Londo asked with an angry voice.

"We don't know," Vir answered apologetically. "No one does."

"Vir, call my car- No," Londo interrupted himself. "I'll take a teleportation box. You get the car back to the embassy, I'll meet Commander Sinclair now."

While Londo headed to the nearest teleportation box, Garibaldi called Commander Sinclair to report him on the situation.

As Ambassador Mollari exited the teleportation box nearest to the Advisory Council Building and crossed the Central Plaza entering the building, Commander Sinclair and Lt Commander Ivanova were already there waiting for him.

"Commander Sinclair," Mollari said even before having fully crossed the door. "As the official representative of the Centauri Republic, I demand to know what information your government has concerning Ragesh III!"

"Nothing more than you do," Sinclair replied. "We know that it has been attacked, and that is all."

"What have you heard from Centauri Prime?" Ivanova asked.

"Nothing," Londo replied. "I sent three messages. No answer. No one is talking."

"Ambassadors," Ambassador Delenn greeted as she and G'Kar entered the room. "I've just heard."

"Yes," G'Kar stated. "You have my sincerest condolences for your losses."

"You know nothing about this attack, G'Kar?" Londo asked with suspicion.

"I'm as astonished as you are," G'Kar replied defensively.

"Can you tell us something about the colony?" Delenn asked.

"There is nothing to tell," Mollari said. "It's an agricultural base. Strictly a civilian operation. Five thousand colonists, they are practically unarmed."

"I suggest we contact our governments and see what they know," Sinclair said. "Then we will call an emergency session of the council and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. We'll do whatever we can to help you."

 **United Systems Federation  
** **Mars  
** **Marsbelt  
** _ **Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards:**_

Looking through the transparinum window ahead, Captain John Sheridan admired the pristine world below. To any non-Human, it would seem odd that Mars was once called "The Red Planet", and even more unbelievable that was once a barren and cold desert. No one could know that only by looking at it. Mars was very much similar to Earth, the white clouds roamed above the dark-blue Northern Ocean and the green and orange of the Southern Continent. From there John could see the Crater Lagoons in Arabia Terra and the glowing blue Valles Marinesis Sea. Also, part of the planets night-side was visible, the lights spreading around, showing the large cities that housed the majority of the planet's three billion inhabitants.

It was all a marvel. Mars. The Belt. Everything. And, despite them being centuries older than him, such marvels of Human ingenuity still amazed him.

Marsbelt, named like Earthdome on Earth, was in many aspects the pulsing heart of Mars. It was an artificial orbital ring, visible from the ground, surrounding the entire planet. It was sometimes called _Mars' Swiss Army Knife_ due to its diversity of uses. The largest occupier of the belt's space was, unsurprisingly, the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. Being the USF's largest shipbuilding facility, it was understandably the pride of the Martian people. Half of the belt was occupied by it, and the Yards were directly linked to another installation on the belt, the Mars Academy of Starship Engineering, one of the three most prestigious Human institutions on the field, alongside Starfleet Academy itself, on Earth, and the Royal Academy of Cortesa.

John looked up from the planet to the starship docked above. It was a beauty. Pathfinder-class. They have called it _USS Starkiller_. John thought it was a joke, probably just to piss off the Minbari. That was the name they had given him. He was the First-Officer of the USS Lexington during their war. Captain Sterns had died during a small battle in the Vega system and he was given temporary command of the ship. Vega was directly linked through jumpspace to the Minbari system of Sh'Lekk'Tha, it was obvious that the Minbari forces were coming from there, so he set course to the system. There he found the _Black Star_ , or _Drala Fi_ as the Minbari called it. It was patrolling the system alongside two other Sharlins and three Tinashis and it quickly spotted the Lexington. The battle that followed would be the first Minbari defeat within their own borders in a thousand years, in itself a blow to their morale, but also the Black Star was their flagship. This defeat, the destruction of their flagship inside their own territory, alarmed the Minbari. They saw it as the biggest trickery, as hypocritical as it sounds. They called Sheridan _The Starkiller_ and saw him as the herald of a full-scale invasion of the Minbari Federation by Starfleet. Desperate, the Minbari decided to attack Sinzar, in order to gain access to Human technology. The rest is history.

John sighed. He doesn't like this arbitrary title they gave him. He had joined Starfleet to explore the galaxy. He knew that by joining the military he would have to fight at some point. But he didn't want _just_ that. Defending Humanity _is_ important, but Starfleet isn't just about that. It is also about exploration and discovery. He remembered watching in the news about the discoveries of his colleagues. The mass relays, the ringworld in the edge of known space, archeological marvels in distant systems, spatial anomalies that defy the very laws of physics.

Well, at least now his time has come. After years of fighting pirates across the border and preventing filibusters of the many League races from bullying the already occupied Dilgar. After being stationed on Starbase 109, orbiting New Omelos, as part of the occupation force. Finally, he was given his own ship and an exploratory mission. He would travel beyond the relay and be an explorer.

"Here we are, John," a feminine voice said, behind him.

"Thank you," he said to his colleague and old friend, Captain Lúthien Celebrin, taking the padd from her hands. His expression became sad. "I wish Anna was here to see me."

She smiled sadly to him. Anna was his wife. She died years ago when the _Icarus_ , the vessel she served in, was lost in uncharted space.

"She would be happy for you, John," she finally said. "And she would want you to move on."

He nodded to her, and she sighed. She pointed her finger at the padd's screen.

"Here," she said. "You will set a course to the Tau Ceti system, we decided to move the Mordor Relay there permanently. It's been there for a week."

He nodded, looking at the map on the screen. Tau Ceti was close to Asgard and Nova Prime. They probably have chosen the system to facilitate a defense perimeter around it in case anything non-friendly comes through it. Starfleet was having difficulty detecting ships coming through the massless corridors created by the mass relays. They are putting a big effort into creating a way to detect ships coming through.

"You will report to Deep Space 47 for permission to use the relay," she continued. "You'll arrive at the Exodus 1 Relay, in the Utopia system. You'll pick up the rest of your new crew in Eden Prime and warp to the Altai System. There, you'll pick up the Exodus 2 Relay to Noveria and warp to Shanxi."

"I suppose I'll be supporting the Relay Exploration Task Force, then."

"Exactly," she answered. "You'll find everything you'll need in Shanxi. It is a rather big scientific colony now, half a million people. It has its own mass relay, but its access codes are proving rather difficult to crack. You'll help them crack it. And then explore beyond."

"I thought it was the Noveria Relay that we couldn't crack."

"You mean _Horse Head 2 Relay_ , now. That one too, but we discovered it is a primary relay leading to a different and distant cluster. Hence the name change as primary relays are named after the Cluster they are in. Anyway, we decided to analyze Shanxi-Theta first. It may be a primary relay, but we don't know yet," she looked at him. "You're ready?"

John nodded and looked back at his new ship out the window.

"Cuio nin mellon, John," Luthien said in her native Sindarin.

"Cuio nin mellon," he replied and hugged her, before walking away to his destiny.

 **Babylon 5  
Sector 19**  
 _ **Commander Sinclair's Office:**_

"... _the General Elections continue to tighten between the party of President Luis Santiago and challenger Marie Crane's as the election day nears. Specialists say the calling of snap elections by Santiago was a dangerous political maneuver that could cost him the presidency. On the other hand, recent polls show a possible majority to his party in the Parliament..."_

"Commander," Ivanova calls as she enters his office.

Commander Sinclair notices Ivanova standing in front of him and orders the computer to turn off, the holographic screen in front of him disappearing in a second.

"Lieutenant Commander," he says, pointing at the chair in front of his desk for her to sit.

"I wanted to see if there is any word yet from Earth on the Centauri problem," she says as she sits on the chair.

"No," Sinclair says. "And that worries me. They had plenty of time to digest the reports, but so far, nothing."

"Who do you think attacked the Centauri colony? The Narn? The Minbari?"

"No. Not the Minbari, it's not their way. They have no reason to do that."

Ivanova raised her eyebrows. Sinclair noticed it.

"I'm not saying that they'd never put a sneak attack. But it is not their style. The Minbari would never _hide_ the fact they were the ones responsible for the attack, on the contrary, they would throw it at everyone's faces."

"Perhaps," she said.

"And what about those raiders that have been attacking the League's trading routes?" Sinclair asked, changing the subject.

"We received a long-range distress signal an hour ago. First I thought it had something to do with the attack on Ragesh 3, but it was a Brakiri-registered ship. Garibaldi went with three Valkyries to see what it is about but we lost the signal soon after."

"I knew they'd be back sooner or later," Sinclair said. "It's the third time in this month that they've attacked the trading lanes in the neighboring sector. They're getting bolder."

Ivanova nodded.

"By the way, has Earth replied on our suggestion for a small task force or at least one single vessel to be deployed to the station?"

"They said no," Sinclair sighed. "The Valkyries will be everything we'll have for now. They also decided against installing a standard defense grid here. Despite everything, we are newcomers to the galactic stage and the alien governments might not see well of us having their high ranking government officers gathered inside an impenetrable snowball heavily defended by weapons under our control only."

"That is idiotic," Ivanova said.

"Yes, it is. But I can understand where they are coming from," Sinclair replied. "I talked with Senator Hidoshi a week ago. He said he will try to sway the Parliament on at least installing a sub-standard defense grid. Some turrets armed with photon torpedoes and phasers."

They sighed and stayed silent for a moment.

"Any word yet on the election?" She changed the subject.

"It's gonna be close," he replied, smiling soon after. "So, who are you voting for?"

"I think will vote for Jonathan Marsden. I like him, and he is from Marie Crane's party. If they get a majority in the Parliament they will surely elect her. That's what I hope. Especially considering that these anticipated elections make Santiago's government look weak as if he couldn't control his own coalition.

She stood up, walking towards the door before stopping and turning back to Sinclair.

"I do not like Santiago," she said, her disfavor explicit on her face. "I always thought that a leader should have a strong chin. He has no chin, and his vice president has several. This to me is not a good combination.

She adjusted her uniform and left.

 **Sector 18** _ **  
**_ _ **Centauri Embassy:**_

"Ambassador!" Vir Cotto entered Londo's quarters calling him agitatedly.

"Vir," Londo replied, annoyed.

"Ambassador, there is a coded signal coming from homeworld. It's a relay from a monitoring station from Ragesh 3."

"All right, Vir. Let's see it," Londo waved for him to go to the computer console.

Vir inserted a data crystal computer console on Mollari's desk. Soon, a holographic screen appeared over the desk, showing the characteristic swirl of an opening jump point and the odd shapes of unknown vessels coming out from it and leaving the relay's point of view quickly. Explosions and weapons fire could be heard alongside the orders of Centauri officers.

"Great Maker," Londo said with concern. "Who would-"

Londo can't end his sentence before seeing something he thinks he knows what is.

"Reverse image," he says. "Hold. Enhance."

To say that Londo was fuming would be an understatement. In front of him, the image recorded by the relay was clear.

"That is a Narn heavy fighter," he says angrily. "That bastard G'Kar. He said he knew nothing of this! G'Kar!"

Londo storms off his room in direction of the Zocalo, the market square at the end of the Ambassadorial Avenue, where he spots G'Kar sat by a table, oblivious to the angry Centauri.

"Ah, Ambassador Mollari," G'Kar says after spotting Londo. "Please, join me. Would you like some spoo? It's fresh! Though I admit I just can't tell the difference between fresh and the replicated stuff.

"Fresh, is it?" Londo says before spitting on the dish G'Kar was offering him. "You bastard. You won't get away with it. We will strike back and strike back hard!"

"I assume you're talking about the attack on Ragesh 3 by our forces," he says innocently. "Just found out myself. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation."

"What reasonable explanation is there for the slaughter of unarmed civilians?"

"Curious," G'Kar smiled. "We wondered the same thing when you invaded our world. Twice. The wheel turns, does it not, Ambassador?"

"We should have wiped out your kind when we had the chance!" Londo said, and added. "Twice!"

"What happened? Run out of small children to butcher?"

"You pig," Londo grabbed G'Kar by the shoulders. "Animal!"

Starfleet Security arrived and grabbed the ambassadors, two officers each.

"Let him go!" G'Kar said while still resisting. "If he wants to die, let him. Listen to me, Ambassador! Your time has come and gone! It's our turn now. One night you will wake up and find our teeth in your throat. Sleep well, Ambassador. Sleep lightly."

He releases himself from the security officers and walks away.

Soon, Londo does the same. He cleans his face from the saliva G'Kar released while screaming at him and walked back to his room.

Not too much time later, Commander Sinclair comes to talk to him.

"I apologize for the incident with G'Kar, commander," Londo says while still wiping neurotically his face, trying to purify himself from anything that came from the Narn ambassador. "It was a mistake. I will not repeat it. I will kill him, though. Sooner or later. Somewhere."

"Ambassador," Sinclair said but was interrupted by Londo.

"My people, we have a way, you see," he said. "We know how, and sometimes even when, we are going to die. It comes in a dream."

Sinclair had read once about that. An article from the University of Wakanda, he recalls, about the Centauri precognitive abilities. They theorized it is some kind of evolutionary adaptation which allowed pre-historic Centauri to know the moment of their deaths and focus on reproducing the more they could before it. Apparently, most Centauri are able to subconsciously perceive hypertime, a temporal dimension which is parallel to common time and is one of the foundations of Humanity's temporal technology. The article also compared this adaptation to the rare ability some Humans have to perceive hypertime too, though this manifests differently as the perception of alternate timelines.

"In my dream," Londo continued. "I am an old man, it is twenty years from now, and I am dying. My hands wrapped around someone's throat and his around mine. We have squeezed the life out of each other.

Sinclair looked at him, frowning.

"The first time I saw G'Kar," Londo snapped his fingers, enacting his realization. "I recognized him as the one from the dream," he laughed. "It will happen. Twenty years from now. We will die with our hands around each other's throats."

"Twenty years is a long time," Sinclair said. "Long enough for you people to come to an understanding."

"Believe as you wish," Londo dismissed him. "Twenty years from now one of us will be wiser and older, and one of us will be dead. Who's to say? Me, I need another drink."

He stood up and walked to the kitchen.

"I think we have a chance to put together a coalition against the Narn attack," Sinclair explained. "To provide the right amount of political pressure. We terraformed their world, we certainly have some influence over them."

"Don't be naive, commander," Londo responded while pouring the liquid in his empty glass. "Their hatred towards us is greater than their respect towards you. But I like the coalition idea. The Narn have to be stopped. Now, while we can. Carn would want me to..."

He sighed and sat down beside Sinclair, his expression now dreary.

"Carn..." he repeated and turned to the commander. "Carn is my nephew. He wanted to enter the Centauri military. But the Royal Navy is not what it once was. It is now small and unimportant, a pompous tiger without teeth that serves more of a ceremonial purpose while the Great Houses boast their own fleets loyal to them only. So I said it was a waste of his skills. The truth is, I was afraid for him. I wanted him someplace safe. Away from all of this. So I personally arranged for him to have a higher position. As head researcher on Ragesh 3."

Sinclair frowned in realization.

"Tonight," Londo continued. "I don't know if he is alive or dead."

"I'm sorry," Sinclair said, to which Londo looked away, trying to hide his sorrow. "Ambassador. I know this is difficult for you. But if this turns into war, you'll the Narns exactly what they want, a chance to divide us, so they can move in. There are other ways. Babylon 5 is here to help keep the peace."

Londo snorted with cynicism.

"Commander, please. On the issue of galactic peace, I am long past innocence and fast approaching apathy. It's all a game. A paper fantasy of names and borders. Only one thing matters, commander. Blood. It calls out for blood. If Carn is dead, there will be war. Today, tomorrow, the day after, it doesn't matter. If it is the last thing I do, if it is the last breath I take, there will be war. This I swear to you, commander. This, I swear."

Sinclair sighed, before nodding to Londo and walking away. Londo looked at the glass on his hand and put it on the table before grabbing the glass bottle on it and taking a large and painful gulp the burned through throat and soul.

Walking by the Ambassadorial Avenue, Commander Sinclair decided to stop by a certain place before going back to C&C. As he entered the imposing yellow and black building, he took one of the small respiration devices hanging off the wall and wore it before entering the room's deadly atmosphere.

"Ambassador Kosh," he called. "May I talk to you?"

The doors opened and he walked into the odd room. It was mostly empty. Ambassador Kosh's encounter suit was there, open, but the Vorlon was nowhere to be seen.

"Greetings, commander," a melodic and angelical voice called from the light behind the colored stained glass.

"You weren't at the council room earlier," Sinclair said, "I wanted to make sure you knew about the emergency section."

"Yes," the Vorlon answered.

"We may need help to put through sanctions," Sinclair stated. "Does your government have a position on the current situation?"

But there was no answer.

"Will you attend the emergency meeting," Sinclair asked, ignoring the lack of an answer to his previous question.

"Yes," was the only response.

The Commander nodded and turned to walk away, then he felt a movement behind him and a flash of light. He turned around to see the encounter suit closed and fully mobile, the Ambassador certainly inside it.

"They are alone," the Vorlon said enigmatically. "They are a dying race. We should let them pass."

"Who?" Sinclair asked, confused. "The Narn or the Centauri?"

"Yes," was all the answer he got.

Back to Ambassador Mollari's room, Vir entered calling Londo with his voice annoying the bitter Centauri.

"What, Vir?" He asked with no patience at all.

"The council meeting. The emergency session-"

" _The council_ ," Londo interrupted by repeating Vir's words mockingly. "The _council_ can go to hell! And the _emergency session_ can go to hell! And _you_ , you can go to hell too! I wouldn't want you to feel left out!"

"Londo," Vir asked while the ambassador laughed dryly. "Londo, why are you doing this?"

"Because," Londo laughed harder. "Because we are a race of lunatics and cowards! I finally received words from our glorious leaders. Do you know what that... that convention of genetic defects have decided to do about the attack on Ragesh 3?"

"Probably they're going to-"

"After full consideration of the situation," Londo interrupted him, screaming in rage, "the great Centauri Republic, the lion of the galaxy, will do nothing!"

Vir looked at him, confused.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because Ragesh 3 is too far, too small, too unimportant to risk a confrontation. Cowards! It is because they know the Centauri military is underprepared. They know that the Great Houses have much power and are more concerned about fighting among themselves than to lend ships and manpower to the Republic! And besides..." his voice became low and melancholic, "Besides, by the time our ships got there, everyone would be dead anyway."

Vir looked at Londo, he could see his sorrow.

"So," Londo took the glass bottle from the table and aimed at Vir, who asked scared for him to not do that before Londo laughed hard and dry and smashed the bottle by throwing it on the wall. "Damn all of them."

"Does that mean that we cancel the council meeting?" Vir asked.

"No," Londo turned at him quickly. "Listen to me. You will not repeat a word of this. We have heard nothing. is that clear? If we can get the others to step in, perhaps we can embarrass those idiots back home into doing something. Understand?"

"But if they find out that we lied, we will be in big trouble-"

"Do you understand!" Londo screams at him.

"Absolutely. Absolutely understand."

 _ **Hanging Gardens Park:**_

As Commander Sinclair stood on the top layer of what could be only described as a step pyramid full of trees, flowers, and water streams and falls, he looked at the horizon, or the closest thing you could have to a horizon in a space station, when Ambassador G'Kar walked by and noticed him.

"I see we have similar habits," he said to the commander, who turned to look at him, but then turned back to the landscape. "Before going into battle, I need to walk in the green for a moment. We have recently managed to restore the forests in my world, courtesy of your people. It is not going as fast as we wished for, but certainly faster than we ever thought possible... It shouldn't be needed, though. It was all green, of course, before the Centauri stripped it bare."

"And now you plan to return the favor," Sinclair finally spoke. "Is that it?"

"I will confess that I look forward to the day we've cleansed the universe of the Centauri and carved their bones into little flutes for the Narn children to play," G'Kar sighed in pleasure with the thought and a hint of mockery while looking to the landscape. "It is a dream I have."

"Be careful. Not every dream I've heard lately ends well for you."

G'Kar looked at Sinclair and smiled.

"In our position, you would do the same. Our two worlds, our two species are more alike than you might think. Your likeness to the Centauri is in physical appearance only," he paused. "I would remind you that we were the ones who helped you with the Dilgar. They were like a hermit state before their campaign and only we and the Centauri had good information on them. Who provided you with everything about them? We did. Not the Centauri. We supported you. You owe us."

G'Kar's words and predatory smiled enraged Sinclair.

"Not a chance," he replied. "You didn't support anyone. You didn't give us the information we needed, you sold it to us. The Narn will sell to anyone who can afford the credits. And not only to us. The Dilgar too."

G'Kar's smile faltered.

"Yes, Ambassador," Sinclair continued. "We know you sold technology, Centauri technology, to the Dilgar before the war. We know you grabbed the hornet nest and threw it on the League's heads. But it bit you back in the ass, didn't it? Jha'Dur's invasion of Hilak VII, the experiments she did in the Narn people there. All your fault."

"You-" G'Kar started saying before he was interrupted by Sinclair.

"But I'll give you points on one thing. We are alike in one respect. We have plenty of experience with sneak attacks. Pearl Harbor, the destruction of the Three Gorges, Sinzar. It is a long and bloody history. Do you know what we learned from it? That a sneak attack is the first resort of a coward."

"Just a minute-"

"You didn't even have the decency to pick a military target," Sinclair interrupted again. "A poorly-armed civilian colony. What a challenge that must have been to the great Narn military!"

G'Kar stepped in, almost moving on Sinclair before stepping back.

"What's wrong, ambassador?" Sinclair continued. "Don't have the guts for a fair fight?"

"In another place, I would have you skinned alive for saying that."

"You want me," Sinclair responded, "You know where to find me. See you in council, ambassador."

He walked away, leaving the ambassador alone.

As he walked away to C&C, he heard Garibaldi calling.

"Commander," he called, Sinclair stopping to talk to him. "We got trouble. I worked out how the Raiders operate. The shipping companies buy access to the jumpgates in bulk then sell it on the open market. Well, one Brakiri company sold the routes to the supply ships that have been hit. It turns out their data crystals just blew out last month. Flatlined the whole system."

"Sounds like someone cracked their data banks," Sinclair concluded.

"Exactly. Only one ship booked before the data crash hasn't been attacked yet. my guess is that they will hit in six hours when it leaves hyperspace."

"Not much time."

"No," Garibaldi agreed. "But here is the tough part. The ship is technically a supply vessel but this time it got booked by a refugee export service."

Sinclair looked at Garibaldi, understanding the severity of the situation."

"There are five hundred men, women, and children of many races on that ship. If the Raiders get there before we do, they are dead."

"Take all the Valkyries you need," Sinclair ordered. "Contact the Brakiri government too, I don't want them to be caught by surprise."

"Aye, sir," Garibaldi said and walked away.

Sinclair entered his office and activated the holographic screen on his desk to prepare for the emergency council when it showed him he has someone calling.

"Open channel," he said.

He stood up and caught the holographic screen with his hand, throwing to the wall, where it stuck. Sinclair stood respectfully in front of it as the image of the Minister of Alien Relations appeared.

"Minister," he greeted respectfully.

 _"Commander. I'm not going to waste your time nor mine. I've received your petition and I now have to address this mess you created."_

"Excuse me, sir?" Sinclair replied, confused.

 _"You've got the entire Parliament up in arms over this, commander. You've exceeded your authority."_

"If you don't stop the Narn aggression," he responded with a temper, "they will just keep coming. We must get the council to authorize military intervention."

 _"I am asking you again to delay the vote. Damn it. Don't you realize that we have an election in less than 24 hours?"_

Sinclair rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Minister, colonists are dying out there," he replied angrily.

 _"That is not the issue,"_ the Minister stated. " _We just came out of one war, commander. What are you trying to do? Start another? The USF can't go around being the galaxy's policeman."_

"Why not?" Sinclair questioned. "We have the technology, the manpower, the economic stability. And certainly, we have the moral duty to."

 _"Perhaps, but we certainly don't have the will to. We must care about our people, our citizens. They wanna fight over this, let them! Just keep us out of it at least until after the election."_

Sinclair turned back to him, annoyed.

 _"If you can't postpone the meeting,"_ he continued. _"I am authorized by the subcommittee to tell you to abstain. Earth has to take a neutral position!"_

"But, sir. That will damage the Centauri case," Sinclair replied. "If we pull out, others might do the same."

 _"Not our problem. Those are your instructions. This discussion is concluded."_

He closed the channel and the holographic screen disappeared. Sinclair blew with anger.

Ivanova, who had just entered the room and have been standing by the door away from the Minister's eyes during the conversation walked in.

"Just an update on the Raider's matter, commander," she said. "Delta flight is ready to intercept them."

"Well, I hope they're well armed," he said, calming down. "From what Garibaldi has said, the Raiders have been packing some big guns those days and they're getting ever more advanced-"

He narrowed his eyes in realization.

"Commander," Ivanova took him from his thoughts.

"That might be it," he said to himself and turned back to Ivanova. "Tell Garibaldi to stand down, I'm taking his place in the Delta flight."

"Should I postpone the council meeting?" She asked as he was turning away to leave.

"No," he turned back. "Look. If I'm at that meeting I'll be forced to do something I don't wanna do. So let it go on without me. You can take my place in the council. Don't worry, it's all on the agenda. Just take the vote and see what everyone else is going to do."

He turned to leave again.

"Any other instruction, commander?" She asked suggestively.

He turned back and smiled.

"Lots of them. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find you before I left, so you never heard about any orders from Earth. The last thing you heard, you were voting _for_ sanctions. Clear?"

"Yes, sir," she smiled too. "Clear as crystal."

She turned around and left as Sinclair went the other way.

 **Ambassadorial Avenue**  
 _ **Babylon 5 Advisory Council Chambers:**_

At the chambers, Ivanova looked around and saw the ambassador sat and waiting for the meeting to be started. The ambassadors of the main powers were sat at the main table. Delenn of the Minbari Federation, G'Kar of the Narn Regime, Londo Mollari of the Centauri Republic, and herself representing the United Systems Federation. Surprisingly, even Ambassador Kosh of the Vorlon Empire was he, showing the importance this meeting would likely have.

She sighed. She shouldn't be here, dealing with this. Commander Sinclair better show up quickly, for she has no patience for this.

"Gentlemen," she finally said after taking a deep breath. "This meeting of the Babylon 5 Advisory Council and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds is called to order. We are convened to vote on sanctions against the Narn Regime. Our options include the imposition of planetary blockade-"

"If it pleases the council," G'Kar said and stood up, interrupting Ivanova and ignoring her glare.

"Ambassador G'Kar-"

"I would like to remind the council," he interrupted her again, clearly not aware of the danger, "that before the Centauri Republic invaded our sector, and before they began their century-long reign of terror, Ragesh 3 was a Narn colony. Now that we are free of the invaders it is our right to reclaim it."

"We recognize the prior claim," Delenn stepped in. "But the reality is that Ragesh 3 has been Centauri property for over a century."

G'Kar snorted.

"To start a war," she continued, "over blood spilled so long ago... Where does it end? You kill them and take their land, they kill you and take the land back. On and on and on. A cycle of hatred.

"Justice!" G'Kar protested. "Not hatred. We have no desire to start a war. Our forces came for the peaceful liberation of Ragesh 3. We did not fire first, and I can prove it. I direct your attention to the monitors."

He put a data crystal at the opening and a big holographic screen appeared.

"We are about to receive a live broadcast from Ragesh 3," he continued. "I believe it will clarify the debate."

The screen went on and the image of a young Centauri male appeared for all to see.

 _"My name is Carn Mollari,"_ he said slowly and seemingly scared, surprising everyone in the council. _"I m head researcher and project director for the_ Ragesh _3 agricultural colony."_

"The nephew, I would add, of our own steemed ambassador, Londo Mollari," G'Kar informed with a smile on his face.

 _"In the last six months, there have been violence outbreaks created by division among our many colonists,"_ he looked down as if reading something. _"We asked for help from Centauri Prime. There was no reply. Faced with chaos and anarchy, the Ragesh 3 Administrative Council asked for assistance from the neighboring Narn Regime-"_

"That's not true," Londo said, horrified, but the transmission continued.

 _"We have chosen of our own free will to ally ourselves with the Narn government. We will, of course, maintain social and economic ties to homeworld in the interest of continued peace. This is Carn Mollari, Ragesh 3... signing off."_

The transmission ended and the council remained silent.

"Don't you understand," Londo finally said. His desperation clear in his voice. "Can't you see what they're trying to do? They forced him to read that statement. I'm sure they threatened to kill him. It's a lie!"

"If you want to talk about lies, ambassador," G'Kar stepped in, "what about your lie of omission? Is it not true that your own world voted against taking any actions in response to the liberation of Ragesh 3?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then why have you asked this council to take actions that even your own government considers inappropriate?"

G'Kar was screaming, and Londo was silenced.

"Ambassador," G'Kar continued, now with a low and calm voice. "This council should not be used to carry out your own personal vendettas."

He turned to the League ambassadors.

"I move that this council now vote to dismiss all charges against the Narn Regime. Is there a second?"

The Llort ambassador raised his hand.

"Please call the vote," G'Kar said with a predatory smile.

Delenn looked at Ivanova apologetically before turning back at G'Kar

"The Minbari Federation votes against the sanctions," she finally said.

"Ambassador Kosh?" G'Kar asked with a knowing smile.

"Yes," was the only thing the Vorlon said.

"Well," G'kar said. "He obviously means yes to dismiss the charges. Lt Commander Ivanova? What is Earth's position?"

She looked at Londo, who sighed and looked away.

"The United Systems Federation votes against the sanctions," she said.

"Ambassador Mollari," G'Kar turned to Londo. "Will you carry out the will of your government?"

The council remained silent, Londo remained silent. He closed his eyes, so he couldn't look at the Narn in front of him.

"The Centauri Republic will abstain of its vote," he said and walked out.

Ivanova sighed.

"This session of the Babylon 5 Advisory Council is closed. Thank you," she said.

The League ambassadors and Ambassador Kosh walked out of the chambers.

"Ambassador G'Kar," Ivanova called before he could leave. "Please, stay."

"I'm sorry this issue is settled, Lt Commander," he replied. "I don't think there is anything we could have to talk about for now."

"We certainly do," Commander Sinclair said, as he entered the room still wearing his pilot uniform, surprising Delenn and G'Kar but not Ivanova.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, confused.

"I'm afraid there is, ambassador," Sinclair said as he took a delicate looking pistol from his pocket and put it on the desk beside them. "And I'm afraid it's _you_."

"I don't understand," G'Kar looked at the pistol.

"This, ambassador," Sinclair pointed at the pistol, "is Ambassador Mollari's. He was walking back to the council chambers very determined to do something stupid to someone _very_ stupid. Fortunately, Garibaldi's instincts kicked in as he saw the ambassador on his way here and made him reconsider his plans."

"If that is true, thank you, commander," G'Kar said. "It is appalling that he would even consider doing such thing to a fellow diplomat. Barbaric, if you allow me-"

"No, I don't, ambassador," Sinclair interrupted him. "If I recall correctly, I said _you_ were the problem."

G'Kar looked at him, confused. Sinclair kept talking.

"We drove the Raiders out of this sector for now, but look what I found on the command and control ship."

Garibaldi entered the chambers, dragging a very upset Narn by his right arm.

The Narn kneeled apologetically in front of G'Kar

"Geni, davo-"

"Dosh!" G'Kar interrupted in his own language, as he knew the Humans would be able to understand him with their universal translators.

"I kept wondering," Sinclair said, looking directly into G'Kar's eyes. " _Where the Raiders are getting their heavy weapons?_ Then I thought about our conversation. _The Narn will sell to anyone who can afford to pay._ Just like they did with the Dilgar. Your government always provides an advisor to show how to operate the weapons. And to ensure they aren't resold to a third party. When we tracked the Raider's command and control ship we disabled it, went aboard and found your friend here."

"But that is not all," Garibaldi stepped in. "When the ship docked and we went inside, we found these data crystals."

He showed to the ambassador before putting them on the desk.

"They contain reports that your friend here monitored between Ragesh 3 and Narn Central Command."

"They confirm everything Ambassador Mollari said about the attack on the Centauri colony," Sinclair said. "That it was unprovoked, and that the invitation was made at the point of a gun. Now it seems to me that you have two choices. Tell your forces on Ragesh 3 to withdraw or we bring this evidence to the council."

G'Kar narrowed his eyes angrily, seemingly trying not to assault the commander.

"Chief," Sinclair ordered Garibaldi and he took the other Narn to the prison. He looked back at G'Kar. "Your choice, ambassador."

G'Kar clenched his fists before sighing and nodding to the commander, who nodded back as the ambassador walked out.

Ambassador Delenn, who haven't talked until now, turned at Sinclair.

"Commander. Is it true that Ambassador Mollari wanted to kill Ambassador G'Kar?" Delenn asked him mortified.

"It is," Sinclair answered her. "But Garibaldi noticed his body language or something and decided to talk to him, probe him. He is very good at reading people. Better at convincing them not to do stupid things."

"Indeed. But the thing that surprised me the most is that he had a pistol with him," she said, to which Sinclair nodded. "How did he slip it pass Customs? Don't you have sensors that can detect weapons very easily?"

"It is easier than you'd think," he sighed. "Our sensors are good, but they are not miraculous. Most weapons or prohibited devices are smuggled in in parts, Londo's pistol itself was assembled in his room shortly before the incident and its parts were hidden into mundane objects. Besides, diplomatic vessels have a clear passage through Customs, most smuggling takes advantage of diplomatic immunity, the ambassador's transit rights, and their mail to get in."

"Well, this should make Londo a happy man," Garibaldi said as he walked in.

"Not to mention Earth," Sinclair added. "We did it without sanctions and the polls haven't even closed."

"Almost forgot to vote. Better get going," Garibaldi said before walking away.

Sinclair turned back to the chambers, where Ivanova and Delenn still stood.

"There is only one thing that keeps bothering me," he said.

"What is it," Delenn asked.

"The Narn government. They managed to pull this out when all the circumstances were in their favor. The whole USF government kind of stopped for the election. It was practically stalled, even in a crisis situation. Any action could change the odds. The Raiders, they kept the attention of the League. But the oddest thing. How did they know the decision of the Centauri government so soon?"

"Do you think they have informants on Centauri Prime?" Delenn asked.

"I do, but not only that," he replied. "The Centauri Republic has been in disarray for decades. They have the smallest fleet among the great powers if you don't count the fleets of the Great Houses which control the main shipyards. And, since they are always warring against each other in an eternal state of cold war, the Centauri government can't just draw them to war if they don't want to."

"You think the Narn have informants on the Great Houses too?" Ivanova asked.

"I think they have at least one house allied to them. As impossible as it may sound."

 **Minbar, Minbari Federation  
 _Tuzanor:_**

As the gleam of the dusk shone against the crystalline towers of Tuzanor, the City of Sorrows showed its beauty at its highest. Turval knew how beautiful this city could be. Before becoming Anla'Shok Na, the Ranger One, he used to go out to the balcony every early evening and meditate while breathing the fresh cold air and watching the twilight.

He has not done it in a while. Actually, since becoming the One, he spent his evenings under hundreds of tons of hard rock. Not a very pleasant place.

It was an old and somewhat unheard of Anla'Shok installation, deep inside Mount Valtor. Actually, it was similar to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, headquarters to Starfleet Homeworld Security Command on Earth. Valtor had been used for training and research for generations. Yet, it had never been so full of people until the end of the war against the Humans.

 _The Great Humiliation_ , his people called it. Far from a false statement, but still too much inflammatory for his taste. The war showed the Minbari, most of them at least, that they were not the greatest of the younger races. It made them look inwards and realize they haven't made a single breakthrough in generations! It pushed them to better themselves.

Valtor Installation was the materialization of this epiphany.

The Anla'Shok and Satai Delenn knew that the Humans would be important to the war against the Darkness. They also knew that they would have to push their technology to guarantee the leading position in this new alliance. The Humans were taking over the sector diplomatically. This urged the Minbari to open to the other races, including the Humans themselves. They have already made trade deals with seven different races. The galaxy was hungry for sophisticated Minbari products and they decided to profit from that. Their data crystals, civil hardware, and construction materials were extremely valuable. In exchange, they got large amounts of Quantium-40 from the Pak'ma'ra, and especially tea from the Humans. It built trust and a somewhat loose interdependence among the races that would be very useful when the time comes.

The Warrior Caste, of course, didn't like the change. They were largely hostile to any change, and especially against the idea that we could need anyone.

Fools. That is why no Warrior knows of this operation.

Turval's attention was brought back to the worker guiding him through the tunnels. Miral was a brilliant woman. She was the leading scientist in the installation. The Humans had given them, and especially her, a worthy adversary to compete with.

"As you already know," she continued, "our understanding of Human technology hasn't improved much in the last decade and is largely speculative. The fighters we captured during the war are of no use. Their systems just refuse to work and they sometimes just fry out or disintegrate when we try any more invasive approach."

"We already know that only Humans can manipulate their technology," other ranger, Alenn, stepped in. "Our contacts in Babylon 5 confirmed that all Humans are born with a certain type of nanite which is one of the components behind the way they interface with their technology. They not only increase their lifespan and strengthen their immune system but help them interface."

"It's amazing how much information we had previously sought about the Humans is now almost freely available in Babylon 5," Miral stated.

"But only the information they _want_ us to know," the ranger replied. "The nanites are also important for them to access their personal accounts and confirm their identities and level of information clearance. They are so much part of their bodies that they wouldn't thrive in a different host."

"We are studying the Human blood smuggled from Babylon 5," Miral replied. "The nanites are proving tricky to crack but I'm optimistic. Once we've done that, we will be able to study the fighter's systems more deeply. We have to be careful now since this is the only one left."

Turval nodded.

"In the meantime," she continued. "We have to make do with what we have. Somethings don't take deep analysis and reverse engineering to understand. We know that their energy source is mostly antimatter and fusion, the ships are built with an unknown metallic alloy, they have artificial gravity which is generated by specifically manipulating graviton particles as opposed to our electromagnetic and gravimetric approach, and their propulsion system is a highly advanced magnetoplasmadynamic engine," she paused, picking a chip-like object from the table and showing Turval. "This is one of their so-called _bio-isolinear_ chips that integrate the fighter's systems. From what we could learn in Babylon 5, that is their most used computing structure."

"It is bio-mechanical in nature," Alenn continued. "We know the Humans use a blend of organic technology, mechanical means, and subspatial physics to make them. They are incredibly advanced, one major advantage compared to the systems we know of is the combination of storage and processing power into a single totally integrated unit. Adding memory to a computer therefore automatically adds more processing power, making upgrading a much easier task. And one bio-isolinear chip can hold more information than any means we know of."

"Still," Miral said. "It wouldn't be enough to reach the processing speeds we know Human computers are capable of. The secret is that these chips also generate small subspace fields that allow them to run at faster-than-light speeds!"

Turval's eyes widened. The level of advancement those Humans were capable of in only five hundred years of interstellar history was astonishing! He, of course, knew how the Human advances were so tightly linked with the discovery of Subspace, or Lower Space as it is called when to link it with its dimensional opposite, Higher Space, also called Hyperspace. While all other races, including the First Ones, dedicated to the research and development of hyperspace and it's applications, Humanity went the direct opposite way. For years the Minbari scientists, as well as experts from all races, have been trying to find a way to detect subspace and study it, but it has been fruitless. Everything they know about this odd dimension came from the Humans and they tightly kept to themselves anything that could be used to help others analyze it. Humanity acted like the open and friendly neighbor but at the end of the day, they were as closed and mysterious as the Minbari. Besides diplomatic missions and those living in Babylon 5, no alien actually lived in Human space, and those who did were subject to tough censorship of technological and scientific information. It is ironic that the Humans themselves found subspace by accident.

Turval was drawn from his thoughts back to what Miral was saying.

"Deeper analysis from the damage done by Human weapons on our ships showed things we hadn't noticed before," She tapped a screen in the table. "We know that their beam weapon arrays can switch between multiple types of beams. We already know of three. The one designated _Phaser_ is an odd kind of phased particle beam, not too different from others we know of. They are not even very powerful when considering heat damage or kinetic impact. Their effectiveness comes from the exotic particles they emit."

"Nadions," Alenn said. "According to our people in Babylon 5, they are artificial particles that have the effect of generating a chain reaction that disrupts the bonds between atoms when fired as a phased beam. The phasing rate determines the speed of the beam, which can go up to lightspeed, as well as the potency of its disintegrating effect, being reversely proportional to its heat and kinetic damage."

"That explains the versatility of applications we know the phasers have," Miral continued, tapping the table which showed a holographic projection of said particle. "We were able to isolate some remains of this _nadion_ particle from our damaged hulls. If it is artificial in nature, we wouldn't have been able to notice."

"What about the other weapons?" Turval asked.

"One is a very powerful type of phased antiproton beam. The other is another unknown particle beam. This particle..." she looked at the table screen to read it, " _tetryon_ , seems to be unstable and just annihilates upon contact releasing large amounts of energy and radiation. We also noticed that their weapons somehow project a kind of massless corridor or space-warping tunnel that confine the beams, allowing them to not only travel faster but also to have very high effective ranges, as those 'tunnels' prevent the beam from dissipating at longer distances like our weapons do."

"The Humans certainly have a highly sophisticated level of weapon technology, despite their supposedly peaceful nature," Turval said thoughtfully. "What about the Whitestar Project?"

"We are having difficulty in replicating most of the technology the Vorlons gave us, and we don't even know if it would be enough to fight the Humans, let alone the Shadows-"

"We are in a better position than before, surely," Miral interrupted Alenn. "We know that our stealth fields are useless against them, so we decided to change our approach. The Vorlon bio-armor is amazing in all aspects and we believe it would be rather effective against Human weapons."

She tapped the screen and a hologram of a small and rather curiously designed ship started to rotated over it.

"But we _know_ that their weapons are quite effective against Vorlon ships themselves. We saw it at Sinzar," Turval replied. "And why build it so small?"

"Well, to answer your first question. No," she said. "After analyzing the footages of the Battle of Sinzar we realized that the Human weapons had more difficulty in penetrating the Vorlon bio-armor than our crystalline one."

"And to answer your second question," Alenn continued. "We decided to make the Whitestar smaller for a variety of reasons, cost being one of them, as we will need to mass-build it very quickly. But also, it is a lesson we learned from the Humans during our war with them. As you know, their ships are rather small, relying heavily on maneuverability and group work."

It was true, Turval noted. After the Human-Minbari War, the Minbari military leadership put great effort into narrowing the gap between Human and Minbari military technology. After extensive research and speculation, it was established that a numerical advantage of seven-to-one was needed to guarantee any chance of victory for the Minbari in any engagement against typical Starfleet vessels, not even their most war-focused ships!

They also realized that Human war doctrine was very different too. Their ships were powerful but not quite as big as the ships of the other races. Starfleet did have larger warships, dreadnoughts, and carriers. Ships such as the Odyssey-, Jupiter-, and Vengeance-class. However, most of their ships built to war were small, narrow, and highly maneuverable, being designed to act in groups, attacking as pack hunters. Starfleet shields and highly accurate and quick-charging weapons also meant that fighters were all but useless against them unless they are employed in overwhelming numbers. Their ships had fewer weapon ports than the ships of the other races, seven beam arrays and four torpedo launchers on average, but those weapons had greater accuracy and range and were almost omnidirectional, as well as being smaller and incredibly difficult to disable, while most of the other races' weapon ports were bulkier and vulnerable to attack.

"I see. And coupled to the advanced Vorlon-based weapons, I imagine it'll be a very powerful ship."

"Exactly, Na," Alenn answered. "The Worker caste have worked for years to counter the Human advantages. Our newer Sharlins and Tinashis are better armored, and their crystalline armor is theoretically more effective against phasers, though we are not sure about other Human beam weapons such as those of the polaron, tetryon, and antiproton types. Regardless, the most optimistic reports show that the new ships should be capable of fighting the Humans five-to-one. Now with these Vorlon technologies..."

"The Minbari are used to their older tactics, but some change is useful too," Turval said.

"That is right, sir," Miral said. "The Whitestar will be our Defiant- or our Sao Paulo-class. The first Minbari experience with the Human style of tactical escorts. Small, powerful, highly maneuverable, and designed to fight in groups. With the technology the Vorlons gave us, it will now have better armor and weapons, as well as new regenerative capabilities, as they can "auto-repair", similar to Human vessels. Despite its size, it will be able to open its own jump points. It will be more maneuverable than even Human ships of the same size!"

Her enthusiasm was showing. But it was due. Since the war, the Minbari have looked deeply for any field in which they were better than the Humans to keep their racial pride. In recent times, they took to gloat about their superior spiritual nature, as a way to counter Humanity's overt materialism. Hence, to know that the ship they are building was superior to Human designs in any fashion would be very good to their pride.

"Satai Delenn will be very pleased with your progress," he said calmly. Satai Delenn was the mind behind this whole operation. The converting of Valtor Installation, the Whitestar Project, everything. She was cunning and knew what was important. The Warriors didn't, and that is one of the many reasons why she decided to keep them, even their Satais, from knowing about their operations. Only the Religious and a part of the Worker castes knew about them. The Warriors are becoming too militant, too traditionalist, and even more difficult to deal with. If they knew about the project they would want to test this new tech against the Humans to take back Minbari honor, disregarding any peace treaty, and any threat from the Shadows.

Turval sighed. That was a problem he was realizing is too ingrained into Minbari culture, and only now it was showing problematic. The castes are too isolated from each other, almost subcultures within Minbari society. Each with their own language, traditions, and customs. Each with their own schools, neighborhoods, and even entire cities segregated from each other. Minbari society was fragmenting and most people weren't even noticing it.

They would need an external threat to unify them under a single cause again.

Despite those new advancements and Miral's optimism, Turval begged the universe for this threat not to be the Humans.


	17. Chapter 11: The Past Knocks on the Door

**First of all, sorry for this insanely big delay.**

 **Second, I think The Horizons Beyond is gonna be a tetralogy. I'm already imagining it.**  
 **1\. The Horizons Beyond (the story you are reading, which will focus on B5 and ME storylines)**  
 **2\. The Horizons Beyond: Dead Faith (or maybe Faith is Dead, or The Gods are Dead, of Mortuus est Fides, which will focus on the aftermath of the Ardori War in the Cradle Galaxy)**  
 **3\. The Horizons Beyond: Beyond the Edge of Creation (which will focus on Captain Jeanine Bouvier's adventures in the multiverse)**  
 **4\. The Horizons Beyond: Codex Atlantiorum (which will be an anthology of Atlanti history. Their conflicts before leaving the Cradle Galaxy, their arrival in the Milky Way, their war with the Vorlons, etc.)**

 **What do you think about that?**

 **Well, to your reviews:**

 **To ferduran:**  
 _I would think they have a ZPM-like technology, but only a prototype much less advanced than the one the Atlanti had (as well as the Ancients). So, I think Humanity's ZPM would extract energy from a pocket subspace domain, while the Atlanti would have something more like the Forerunners' vacuum energy mixed with ZPMs. Basically, they extracted zero-point energy directly from the vacuum of space. Humans can do it too, that is how quantum torpedoes work, they extract zero-point energy to expand the destructive power of the weapon, but they still can't use it well to non-destructive means. About the Vorlons and the Shadows, they wouldn't be very awed. The Shadows already do the same, but they extract energy directly from hyperspace, not commonspace. Actually, I think that is the reason they can phase in and out of hyperspace, because they are constantly connected to it._  
 _About the civil war, well, I wouldn't call it a civil war, but maybe an authority crisis, or an identity crisis. Remember that the United Systems Federation is not the United Federation of Planets. They have completely different historic backgrounds. So, you can expect things from USF Humans that you would never expect from UFP Humans, at least when they are pushed to the edge._  
 _The difference you see is very important. In the first chapters, Humanity was new to the galaxy, everything was wonder, everything was idealism. Now, twenty-five years after, this is gone._

 **To the stargate time traveler:**  
 _I can be sure the Minbari and all the others will keep trying._

 **To raw666:**  
 _Like I said to ferduran, I wouldn't call it a civil war, more of a crisis. The USF works kind of like a parliamentary system, so if the government has a clear majority, it is very difficult to oppose it. Also, as painless as the wars have been, they were not completely without pain, as this chapter will show. People have relatives who dies, there are people who were prisoners of war, people who were tortured. Those people were in dark places and this tend to fuel hatred and entitlement. Only a small amount of people can build catastrophe._  
 _I will focus on the Minbari and the Centauri too, don't worry. They are far from stable. You will see the Warrior Caste conspiracy, and it will be way more profound then the original. But they aren't the only ones conspiring. Also, you will see that interest of the Shadows in Humanity._

 **To aDarkOne:**  
 _Yes, AlbertG and RenS stories are Human wank, but, let's be honest, mine is too. I intend to bleed Humanity sometime, but for now, the story is about how the other races react to them, and the other way around._

 **To Eaglestorm27:**  
 _You can expect that, after contact with the Citadel, they will trade technologies in an attempt to catch up with Humanity._  
 _They already have orbital platforms, but it is a technology that they will only implement heavily after they find enemies who are true threats to them._  
 _And, yes, they will find a race that uses something else that is not hyperspace nor subspace, and that will be a pain in Starfleet's ass. Also, I think of the Ardori kind of as an equivalent to the Iconians, they aren't based only on Stargate's Ori._

 **To RevanR:**  
 _Oh, my dear reader, the straw that breaks the horse back is still somewhat far away. You have to understand Humanity's mentality. They are like freaking Sweden with the United States' military might. They will back down, try diplomacy, listen to the other races excuses, before they go to a full conflict. And, even then, they will only push the other race until they come to the negotiating table. In a way, that is the reason why xenophobic (of the "let's kill aliens" type and the "let's just isolate ourselves and let them alone" type) will grow among Humans. Some will think the USF's actions were right, others will see it as weakness. Also, in a way, Humanity is a sleeping giant. They know we have the power to destroy them all (B5 and ME alike), but they also know that we are idealistic, and that we dislike conflict. They know they can push us just enough and that we will have to be pushed into the edge of the cliff to actually lose our minds and rampage the galaxy._

 **To Trife:**  
 _About chapter 8. First, I imagine those lasers they use as being a hybrid laser-plasma weapon that can do damage on a Starfleet vessel shields. Second. If you are one light-second from a laser, you have one second to evade. That isn't plenty of time, but is enough, especially if you can detect that their weapons will fire before they do (Something like: "They're powering their weapons, one light-second! Evasive maneuvers!")._

 **To Sabatie:**  
 _Yes, they know Humanity can wipe them out completely. But they also know that we wouldn't. It's been almost thirty years since they contacted Humanity, it is plenty of time to study their mindset. Like I said to RevanR above, they know we have principles, and they realized they can push us just enough before we go rampaging. Humanity sees Genesis as a life-giving technology, not a weapon. They know it could be a weapon, but they don't want to think about it. It is like, for example, the fact that the United States has nuclear weapons to wipe the entire planet, and military might to hold the world hostage, but they also know America wouldn't do it unless pushed too far (or unless they find out that the entire rest of the world has plenty of oil! Ha ha ha! Sorry, bad joke)._

 **To Blackholelord:**  
 _Oh, yes. You can see it already._

 **To CHMIEL:**  
 _You can be sure this story is very alive._

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **"The Past Knocks on the Door"**

 **Babylon 5**  
 **Docking Bay One**

As Talia Winters passed through Customs, she walked out of the spaceport looking around marveled with what she was seeing. The station itself was a marvel of engineering, but it was nothing compared to its inhabitants. Aliens all around, all the colors of the rainbow could be found painting their skins and strange clothes. She could hear every sound, languages she never knew.

That was not something she would see back home. The government was very controlling of aliens in Human territory. Only Terrans and people who lived close to major tourist destinations had the chance to see an alien in person. Diplomatic staff who populated Earth's many embassies and the few tourists allowed in. That's all.

Despite Humanity's importance to interstellar diplomacy, they were still so isolated, so wary of external influences. The USF was a paradise, a garden for Humanity, but a walled one still. One that could be destroyed too easily. Well, at least that is what she had believed for a long time. Bad times, she admitted. Times that cost her too much.

When she finally reached outside, she saw Commander Sinclair waiting for her beside a black car with two small USF flags waving weakly in front of it. She turned to the woman beside him and her eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly composed herself. For a second, she saw the surprise, the recognition in the woman's eyes too. Talia looked back with a diplomatic smile on her face at Commander Sinclair, who noticed nothing.

"Commander Sinclair," she greeted him. "I didn't expect to be welcomed by you so soon. Talia Winters, First Secretary, USF Diplomatic Corps."

"No need to be so formal, Ms Winters," the commander replied. "We can at least act casual until your official welcome. You may be tired from your trip."

"Not at all," she answered and looked back at the woman beside him. "Well, I confess that I haven't slept on my way here, so excited I was to see this place and everything it has to offer."

"There is no place among the stars like Babylon 5," he smiled. "Ms Winters, this is my XO, Lt Commander Ivanova. You will report to her in all matters that concern Starfleet."

The Lt Commander nodded with a neutral, unemotional face, which saddened Talia deeply. She looked back at Commander Sinclair.

"I'm aware that the negotiations between the Narn and Centauri governments regarding the Euphrates Sector are due Friday," she told him. "I would like to meet ambassadors G'Kar and Mollari beforehand to… well, know them and maybe understand their motivations before the meeting."

"Well," Sinclair replied. "I'm not sure about G'Kar, but you can be certain you will find Londo at The Royal Chambers," he paused and smiled amusingly as Talia made a confused face. "It is a Centauri bar. A bar with _exotic dancers_."

"Alcohol and sex workers, no better place to look for a high ranking Centauri," Lt Commander Ivanova spoke for the first time. She then turned to Sinclair. "Sir, if you will excuse me, I have things to do at C&C, and if my gut is to be believed, Garibaldi might be there right now messing with my consoles trying to access high clearance frequencies. I'm really starting to get annoyed by his playing detective."

She looked at Talia again and frowned before nodding diplomatically at both of them and leaving.

Talia sighed.

 _Oh, Susan_ , she thought to herself, saddened. _What happened to us?_

 **Dilgar Constitutional Union**  
 **New Omelos, formerly known as Inmata 4**  
 **Ara'Shann**

The skyline of Ara'Shann, capital of New Omelos, sparkled as the sun shone high this noon. From the balcony of her apartment, former president Fesa'ra looked at the new world she has built to her people. It was a young, new world. No more than ten Dilgar cycles, or thirteen Human years. So much has changed. In a way, the Humans were right. The Dilgar really did turn around and embrace those new ideals. The fascism of Jha'dur's regime and the previous political and social establishment brought her people to the brink of ruin. Humanity showed them a new path and the Dilgar, desperate as they were, clung to it tightly. There are dissidents, of course. Groups like Haram'kar, terrorists who only wish to destroy what Fesa'ra fought so hard to build.

"I remember the day Jha'dur pressed that damned button. I remember it like yesterday," without turning to look at him, she told President Sarssich, who was sat at the couch inside. "That was the day I knew Omelos was doomed. The aftermath was a nuclear wasteland of a planet and a billion dead. She used the chaos that followed as a smoke screen to her escape. And we, knowing that the League and the Humans wouldn't accept anything less, burned another body as her own. For the show."

She turned to the president and entered the hall.

"That was the day," she continued. "That was the day I made my most important, most consequential choice. I knew Omelos would always be a monument to Jha'dur's madness. A reminder of what it meant to follow her. A scar in the hearts of our people. I let Omelos die, even if the Humans could have rebuilt it for us, because I knew we would never let the past go if we remained there, calling that graveyard our home."

"I know that," President Sarssich replied.

"Still, it wouldn't stop all the sympathizers. I knew that."

"The Haram'kar claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack at the University of Cha'Vanach," Secretary of Security Vizina, who was sat beside President Sarssich, reported. "The University had started sending researchers to Starbase 109 to help in the Hope Institute. The terrorists claimed this was a dishonor of Jha'dur's legacy and threatened any Dilgar whom, as they said it, _helps this sold, traitorous government and the filthy occupiers who support them._ "

Fesa'ra sighed. The Hope Institute was a Human initiative. Headquartered in Starbase 109, it receives resources directly from the USF government for the development and implementation of programs directed to former prisoners of war. Of the hundreds of millions of prisoners Jha'dur's regime once kept in a state of slavery, only some tens of millions survived this long. Not that they are the lucky ones, though. They are all addicted to Ket, their mental and physical health deteriorating. For thirteen years, the Hope Institute has taken care of them, but it is obvious they can only keep them alive and provide counseling, diminish their pain at best. The Institute has installations in a multitude of League worlds, where Humans and locals work and research ways to control their addiction and the physiological decay. Though many Dilgar volunteered to help, they were not allowed anywhere besides the headquarters in Starbase 109. Bad blood was still strong.

"This must not be allowed," Fesa'ra told, back at Vizina. "The withdrawing of the occupation force is scheduled to three months from now. If they think we can't control our own worlds, they may decide to extend their stay."

"Would it be so bad?" President Sarssich asked, sighing. "They keep the League from jumping on our throats. They monitor criminal activity from their starbase up in orbit and provide us with so much needed information. Let's be honest, Fesa'ra. The occupation force is the only thing keeping those dissidents from starting a civil war. The Humans backing us is the only thing that keeps this democracy standing."

"You're wrong," Fesa'ra replied angrily. She then sighed. "I backed you, Sarssich, because I know you'd do anything for our people, because you fought Jha'dur beside me and I trust you. But you are too short-sighted. I thank the Humans, I really do. But right now, as benevolent as their grip over us may be, we are a protectorate, a vassal state. We need to stand on our own legs."

Her eyes shone as she looked at them.

"Our economy is booming," she continued. "The technology we took from the League during the war is just too useful and, as dishonorable it may be to keep it, we just couldn't afford not to. Abbai and Yolu agricultural techniques, as well as the ones the Humans gave us, allowed us to feed our people. Brakiri mining technology gave us minerals to trade and build cities such as this. Soon we will be the biggest economy after the great powers. Don't you see it? Don't you see the potential we are tapping into? Our people can see that. _I_ can see that. It is in their eyes. Hope. This is what keeps our democracy standing, Sarssich. Not Starfleet."

President Sarssich smiled.

"You are really the power behind the throne, Fesa'ra," he replied. "What do you plan for us, though? I'm an administrator, not a leader. Certainly not a visionary."

"You're more than you think," she answered than looked back at Vizina. "Both of you. You fought for the Dilgar people, the right way. As for my plans, I plan to put our people on the diplomatic stage. Our military is powerful due to all the technology we gathered. We are one of the most advanced races now. I intend on having the Union take its rightful place. To sign the Babylon Treaty."

"You are sure?" Vizina asked. "The League will certainly be a hurdle."

"We already have the backing of the Humans. Besides, as much as they don't want to admit it, the League's commercial relations with us are getting stronger every day. Trade builds trust and codependency, and with Starfleet patrolling space against piracy, the other races, we included, were able to put more resources into trade and diplomacy."

"And after signing the treaty, what?" Sarssich asked. "We will be a non-voting member. We are not one of the five great powers, nor are we part of the League, this will be the default status."

"As our economy and influence grow, we will end up on the table of the great powers. We will use our self-defense forces to humanitarian and security missions. Our constitution may prohibit us from going to war, but with the permission of the B5 council, we will have plenty to do. We already have the most advanced military force after the great powers, despite it's limited size."

Fesa'ra stood up and went out to the balcony once again.

"I intend on going to Babylon 5 this year carrying with me a full diplomatic mission," she said, looking back at them. "We will show the other races the potential of our people for good, and make them accept us into the wider galaxy."

 **Babylon 5**  
 **Diplomatic Room 13**

" _Garibaldi to Sinclair,_ " Commander Sinclair's comm badge sounded

"Sinclair here," he answered.

" _Commander, I found an unauthorized transmission to Earth in gold channel last night,_ " Garibaldi reported.

"Run it by the EO," Sinclair ordered. "I'll check back when I can.

He finished the call and turned back at the table, by which Ambassador G'Kar, his aide Ko D'Ath, Talia Winters, and Vir Cotto were sat. Only one soul was missing. An annoyingly late Ambassador Mollari.

"This delay is quite insufferable, commander," G'Kar complained. "As ambassador of the Narn Regime, I demand Ambassador Mollari be censored by his flouting of protocol!"

Sinclair sighed

"I'll be glad to censor him when he gets here," he looked at Vir, who was too distracted playing his vintage Nintendo Game Boy. "Mr Cotto?"

"Yes?" He replied without taking his attention from the game.

"Please, try the ambassador again."

"I tried three times, still no answer from his quarters," he answered again, still not looking away from the console's screen.

Sinclair's eyes narrowed and he grabbed the game console from Vir's hands, looking directly into his eyes.

"Then, try him again," he said calmly and authoritatively.

Vir looked back at the game console and sighed, before standing up and exiting the room.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment," Talia said as she too stood up and exited the room.

Sinclair followed and found her standing in the corridor, her back leaned on the wall and her fingers massaging her temples.

"You didn't speak much there," he said to her. "Are you alright?"

"Oh. I'm sorry," she apologized. "Something else has been on my mind."

There was silence, as Sinclair didn't want to ask what seemed to be a personal matter.

"These talks are very important to you, aren't they?" she asked, breaking the minute-long silence.

"Earth wants a peaceful settlement, and so do I," he answered. "It will show them Babylon 5 is doing the job it was meant to do, especially if we consider how much the government has been neglecting us."

"If you can get the Narn and the Centauri to cooperate," she said with a smile.

Sinclair laughed.

"Londo and G'Kar know a peaceful solution on the Euphrates Sector will benefit them more than a conflict, that is where you come in. You are an expert on reading people's emotions, for what I heard. You're my peel. You're gonna peel away their lies until they are only left with the inescapable truth."

"Sounds like you got a good shot," she smiled.

"I do," he smiled too then scoffed. "If Londo ever shows up."

"You know, commander? I really don't know how that station can hold up together. I've been here for less than a week and it all seems too chaotic to me."

"In a way, it is," he laughed. "You see, after the opening, alien immigrants started flocking the docks. It was chaos. We had to send most of them back. It took months!"

"Why so many, though?"

"Economic migrants," he answered. "In Human space, there is no hunger, no taxes, no economic insufficiency, no unemployment. Many working-age aliens came here thinking they would find a good job and send money back to their families on their planet."

"But they soon find out that energy credits don't work like normal currency," Talia deduced.

"Yeah. It is worth nothing outside Human space, there isn't even an exchange rate. Once here, they are provided for, but they can't send anything back home, nor bring their families."

"That's is sad," Talia said.

"It is. It makes us think, though. Many just decided to go back home. Despite all the comfort that they would have here, it wasn't worth staying away from their families."

"I heard it isn't all roses, though," Talia replied. "The data shows crime rates here are by far the highest in Human space."

"Smuggling, interspecies violence and hatred, rape, espionage, forced marriages, you name it," Sinclair sighed. Crime was near eradicated on every other USF station or planet, except the odd crime of passion, but here on Babylon 5, there was an ample amount of it every day. "Many tried to smuggle technology out of the station, some were more audacious and tried to rip the replicators from the wall. So many Narn and Centauri already died in bar fights or street violence against each other. The Pak'ma'ra insist on stealing and eating the dead, which is their natural food, but the other species are getting very pissed to have their loved ones bodies eaten. The Brakiri smuggled in an archeological artifact from Ikarra 7 last week that ended up being an automated biological weapon. Five people were killed. The Minbari act as if they own the place, or should I say the whole galaxy, and the races that do slavery are getting very good in staying off the radar."

"Slavery? Disgusting!" Talia said with cold eyes looking into nothingness. "It seems they are not all wrong when they say that by bringing the other races in, we bring their problems, their conflicts, their prejudices, their barbarisms."

"Excuse me, Ms Winters?" Sinclair asked.

Talia's attention went back to the commander.

"An opinion that is becoming more mainstream back home," she said. "As an idea, not completely wrong, but still very dangerous. For some, Babylon 5 is a symbol of the failure of integration-"

" _A monument to the sins of free association_ ," Sinclair continued Talia's quotation. "I've read this article too. It baffles me that it still draws so much attention."

"Not only attention, commander," she replied with a grim face. "But following too. We all know how much those ethnic, religious, and cultural rivalries had cost in blood to Humanity. We also know that we overcome them and are now a people unified against what lurks in the darkness of space," she sighed. "What most seem to forget, though, is that we had a worldwide wave of sectarian conflicts before we learned our lesson. The European Muslim Purge, the Genocide of White South Africans, the Saudi-Iranian War, the American Racial War, the Palestinian Genocide. And finally the biggest war between two models of civilization, World War III. Some think we may be repeating those episodes by allowing the aliens in."

Sinclair frowned. There was silence.

"We should go in," Sinclair changed the subject then waved to behind Talia. "Londo is here."

At the diplomatic room. Vir was back, looking bored as G'Kar and Ko D'Ath played with his game console.

"Greetings," Londo said as he entered the room skipping with joy. "You have my abject apologies. I was delayed on an important matter of state. G'Kar," he greeted with a wide grin. "Ah, and the impressive Ms Ko D'Ath-"

He went to kiss her hand as she took it back quickly, hissing like a trapped animal.

"Well, so good to see you again," Londo told her ironically as he sat by the table. "Well, shall we begin?"

 **Babylon 5**  
 **C &C**

"Lt Commander," Commander Sinclair said when she entered his office. "Please, sit. I've been wanting to talk to you."

"I see Garibaldi talked to you," she said.

"Yes, he did. But don't worry about that. As much as using the gold channel to contact civilians is a break of protocol, no one would actually reprehend you for doing so. Not in this situation."

Ivanova nodded.

"How is your father?" Sinclair asked.

"Very bad," Ivanova answered. "He woke from the coma, but he is still being taken care of by the Hope Institute back on Earth, but his situation is... well, it is not good."

"Your father was a great man, a war hero," Sinclair said. "You must be very proud of him. He was made a prisoner of war by the Dilgar and forced to work in their industries. But he also led the Great Revolt of Ettamem, which expelled the Dilgar from the planet. He saved thousands of prisoners."

"And what did that give him?" she asked bitterly. "An addiction he can't cure, a body that is becoming weaker every day. War has only has brought him tragedy, commander," she sighed. "We haven't talked for years until now. He never accepted that I enlisted in Starfleet."

"I see," was all Sinclair said.

"We've been in peace for centuries. Humanity didn't know what was war anymore." she continued, "After we drove back the Dilgar, he tried to make my brother, Ganya, retire from Starfleet. My father was terrified that another war would come and he would lose him. But Ganya didn't listen. And then the Minbari War started and Ganya died in Sinzar. That was the reason I decided to enlist, to honor Ganya. To my father, though, it was a betrayal of the highest order."

"I wish him the best," Sinclair said. "But it was actually not the reason I called you."

"Commander?" Ivanova asked.

"You see, I didn't ask before because it seemed to be a personal matter. But I noticed some tension between Ms Winters and you. You are making particularly hard for her to report to you."

Ivanova was visibly taken back.

"Susan," Sinclair continued. "What is it between you two that you can't even look at her?"

Ivanova looked at Sinclair, visibly annoyed by his question and the prospect of having to answer it. She sighed.

"I don't trust her, commander," she finally answered. "We have a past. Talia and I were married for some years, back when I wasn't in Starfleet and she worked for Starfleet Intelligence."

"I didn't know you were married," Sinclair replied. "But her time in S-Intel was one of the things garnishing her resume. Those intelligence-gathering techniques she learned became very useful to her diplomatic career."

"What is not in her resume," Ivanova replied, "is that Talia was a member of an illegal, covert operation inside Starfleet Intelligence. A Human supremacist black-ops group. I had been putting the pieces together through the years when I found a piece of information that became the last straw."

Ivanova sighed.

"She," she continued. "She was letting them do experiments on her, as well as other operatives. I confronted her, threatened to report them. But I couldn't. They had contacts everywhere, and I was young and fearful at the time. I gave her an ultimatum. Me or her cause. Talia manipulated me and destroyed every evidence I had. She chose the cause."

Sinclair remained silent. He knew of such elements within Human society, within Starfleet. But to think they have entire operations!

"She may be a diplomat now, commander," Ivanova said. "But I doubt she did actually cut ties with her old friends. This kind of people don't just let you quit."

She stood up, and straightened her uniform. SInclair nodded and she was gone.

 **Babylon 5**  
 **Alien Sector**

Adira Tyree looked at the data crystal on her hand, her eyes watering. That was the biggest betrayal. Londo was nothing less than gentle and loving towards her, yet she betrayed him.

The Purple Files which she stole from him could destroy his career and the Centauri Republic.

She sighed. She had no choice. The comm screen rang and she answered it.

"Where have you been?" Her owner, Trakis, asked on the screen. "I've been trying to reach you all night. Did you get Mollari's files?"

"Yes."

"Good," he said. "I'll be there at once."

"No!" she replied. "Londo may come looking for me here. I'll meet you in the Zocalo, near the Galactic Boutique."

"Ten minutes. Don't be late."

Trakis ended the transmission.

The disgust was visible on Adira's face. But not at Trakis. At herself. She looked at the vase beside her, the star laces Londo had brought her glowed beautifully, just like Londo when he was with her. She touched the flowers caringly with a smile then sighed. She had to do it. She had no choice. As Adira Tyree exited her apartment, she looked back a last time.

In the Centauri Embassy, inside Ambassador Mollari's apartment, Vir Cotto was trying to make him do his job.

"Ambassador," he said. "I really think we need to be going."

Londo, who was distracted with his computer, stood up.

"Vir, I had a thought," he said. "Why don't you represent our republic in the talks today?"

"Me?"

"Yes, why not?" Londo replied enthusiastically. "You know the situation as well as I. It is the perfect opportunity to get your feet moist, as the Terrans say!"

"I actually don't think it is a wise idea-"

"Nonsense!" Londo interrupted. "I have every confidence in you! Which is why I'm giving you full ambassadorial authority!"

Vir's jaw dropped.

"Be proud, my boy," Londo continued. "You are now the voice of the mighty Centauri Empire!"

"Yes, sir" Vir finally answered, proudly. "Thank you, sir!"

"That is the spirit! Go now!" Londo ordered. "I'll be along later to see how you're doing."

Vir smiled and turned to the door

"And, Vir!" Londo called and he turned back. "Don't give away the homeworld!" He said with a serious face.

"No, sir. Of course not!" Vir answered by shaking his head violently and he left the apartment.

Londo sighed and left the apartment too. As he reached the parking lot, he took his car and went flying to Adira's apartment.

"Adira?" He called as he knocked on her door. "Adira?"

"She is not there, ambassador," said a voice, a Golian man who approached him. "My name is Trakis. We have a great deal in common, Adira has betrayed us both."

He put his hand on the door, and it opened, recognizing him. Londo just stood there, surprised.

"Adira, a Narn agent?" Londo asked unbelievingly as Trakis finished his story. He laughed. "You must be mad. She is Centauri!"

"Don't be a fool, ambassador. If those files wind up on the hands of your enemies, then your career and your republic will be finished."

"And what is your concern in all of this?" Londo asked, his suspicion rising, his politeness diminishing.

"I'm simply protecting my interests," Trakis answered as he drew a document from his clothes. "And my property."

Londo took the document.

"She's a slave?" he said as he read it.

"Duly bought by the laws of your own republic," Trakis replied. "And by those same laws, as her owner, as can be held responsible for any crimes she commits."

As Londo turned his back at Trakis to better read the document, Trakis quietly put a listening device on his jacket.

"She's used you, ambassador," he said behind his shoulder, like a snake whispering to his ears. "Just as she's used everyone in her life. You must find her!"

"Get out."

"She lied to you," Trakis continued. "She didn't care for you, she-"

"I said, get out!" Londo shouted and Trakis left the apartment.

Londo couldn't believe in it. The anger was boiling up. He took the vase from the table, the one with the star laces, and threw it violently on the wall, shattering it in pieces.

Why would she do it? Why woul-

Then his mind illuminated. Londo looked at the document Trakis gave him, but it wasn't on his hand anymore. Trakis took it with him. It doesn't matter. He already read it. He knew what to do.

 **Babylon 5**  
 **Diplomatic Room 13**

"Commander," G'Kar demanded. "Are we to suffer another long delay thanks to the Centauri ambassador?"

As soon as Sinclair started to talk, everyone was relieved by Vir Cotto entering the room, carrying a bunch of papers. But their relief soon became confusion as Londo didn't come through the door after him.

"Commander, " Vir greeted. "Ms Winters. Ambassador G'Kar."

"Where is Ambassador Mollari?" G'Kar shouted at him.

"Oh, Ambassador Mollari is busy with other important matters," he answered as he sat down. "But he's given me full authority to negotiate on behalf of the Centauri Republic."

"What? Are you serious?" G'Kar shouted wrathful and clearly offended. Then he turned to Sinclair. "You expect me to negotiate with this, this underling!?"

"In the interest of our governments," Sinclair said, his hands up pacifyingly, "perhaps we could start the talks until Ambassador Mollari is found."

"Commander, I have done my best to cooperate, but this latest insult cannot be tolerated!" G'Kar stated. "I shall return, but when Ambassador Mollari is here, and not before!"

Sinclair looked at Talia and they sighed.

"In the meantime," G'Kar continued, now with a mocking expression on his face, "Ko D'ath will represent the Narn Regime."

"Oh! Thank you, ambassador!" Ko D'ath said, with a proud face. "I shall endeavor to represent our people with the best of my ability!".

"Just don't give away the homeworld!" G'Kar said to her ear, before leaving the room.

Sinclair turned to Talia.

"Keep them talking, I'll gonna find Londo and bring him here," Sinclair said.

"What if he refuses?" She asked.

"Then I hurt him," he said to Talia, who smiles. As he was leaving the room, he turned back. "And, Ms Winters. Don't give away any homeworld."

They both smiled and Sinclair left the room.

As Sinclair walked the corridors of the Centauri embassy, he saw Londo leaving his apartment.

"Londo!" He called.

"Ah, commander," Londo said. "I was going to meet you. I need a big favor!"

"No favors, Londo. I don't wanna hear it. You turned these talks into a joke and that joke may harm a dozen worlds!"

"I know," Londo sighed. "I have been a fool. And all because of a pretty face. Sinclair, I beseech you. Help me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Adira," Londo answered. "She has stolen something from me. Something that could shake the very foundation of the Centauri Republic. And cost me my career."

"Have you reported this to security?"

"No, I can't," Londo replied. "If it becomes official, my government is certain to hear of it. This calls for the highest discretion. That is why I need you, Sinclair. If you use your resources to find her, as a matter of USF law, then it won't be tracked to me. Please, only you, my good and dear friend, can help me."

"If I do," Sinclair asked, "will you agree with my compromise on the Euphrates treaty?"

"Yes," Londo sighed. "I'll even seal it with a kiss."

"That should make G'Kar's day," Sinclair said as they walked down the corridor.

 **Babylon 5**  
 **Docking Bay One**

"I remember Adira talking to me about this friend of her, Gera Akshi. She lives in the Geneva Street, number 12, apartment 321," Londo said as he flew through the Alien Sector in his car with Commander Sinclair by his side. "She always spoke very nice of her, about how they were true friends. Maybe Adira is there."

"Good," Sinclair said. "I will ready the security personnel, I will station them around the building in one hour."

Londo left Sinclair in C&C before landing on the street close to Docking Bay One. Londo left the car and looked around, until he finally saw him.

"Mr Trakis!" Londo called as he saw the Bolian walking to the Docking Bay with Adira by his side. But he already entered the docks.

As they entered his ship, Trakis went to the small viewscreen on the wall, Ambassador G'Kar's face appeared in it.

"We are waiting for you in hyperspace, just beyond the range of Babylon 5's sensors," G'Kar said and ended the transmission.

Trakis shouted for his pilot to go to the jump point.

"Uh, sir?" The pilot said aminute later. "There is a problem."

"What is it?" Trakis shouted.

"We don't have our main reactor."

"What! How?" Trakis asked.

The pilot only pointed to the viewscreen on his console for Trakis to look. The reactor was floating on the nothingness of space.

Baffled, Trakis turned quickly as he heard a strange sound and shimmering lights appeared as security officers beamed into his ship alongside Commander Sinclair. Trakis quickly grabbed Adira by the hair and put a pistol on her head, with Ambassador Mollari beaming behind them and giving him a punch in the ear a second later.

"That is for Adira," Londo said and then kicked him. "And this is for me."

Londo bent down to look at Trakis pockets and took the data crystal. He then looked at a terrified Adira right beside him and hugged her.

"Adira," he said. "You're safe now."

"Adira!" a child's voice sounded and Garibaldi came in with a little Centauri in her arms.

"Inara!" Adira cried as she took the girl on her arms, never wanting to let her go again.

"The girl was chained in a room on the lower deck," Garibaldi reported to Sinclair, who nodded.

"When Trakis showed me the purchase contract," Londo explained to Adira. "I noticed that it mentioned not one slave, but two. Two sisters."

He looked at Adira and little Inara and continued.

"That moment, I knew you had a reason to do what you did. He had your little sister. I called Commander Sinclair to help me. He detected Trakis listening device on my jacket and we purposely gave him your location."

"We knew Ambassador G'Kar had left the station," Sinclair continued. "And if Trakis would sell the Purple Files to someone, it would be the Narn Regime, he would very probably deliver it to G'Kar himself. We still had to locate your sister, so we decided to let Trakis get out of the station, he wouldn't just leave his property behind. Trakis had been seen before with a Centauri girl , so we deduced it was her and confirmed that she was indeed on the station."

"Oh, Londo," Adira cried. "Thank you!"

"Don't thank me, my dear," Londo replied, caressing her face. "Thank the USF government. Slavery is completely illegal in Human space, you were free as soon as you set foot here. You are free now. Both of you."

"Slavery is a practice proving to be very difficult to crack in the station," Sinclair added. "But we are doing our best. Ms Tyree, be sure that Trakis will be prosecuted by the crimes of blackmail, enslavement, slave trafficking, child abuse, and many others. He will spend all of his life on a prison planet. He'll never hurt you both again."

Adira cried with happiness. Londo just went to the screen on the wall.

"My dear G'Kar," he said as a confused Ambassador G'Kar appeared on the screen. "Thank you! You just helped save my career, and the honor of the Centauri Republic!"  
Londo laughed hysterically.

"What?" G'Kar asked confused, before looking around enraged and ending the transmission.

The day passed quickly and they were now all in Docking Bay One again.

"To think that there can be people under the regime of slavery in Human territory," Talia said to Sinclair.

"The community many times defends the slave owner and help each other keep an eye on their slaves", Sinclair answered, looking at Adira and Londo talking some meters away. "They see it and many other practices as tradition and USF law as an imposition on their culture. It is very difficult to control such things. The Hurr treat their women as property and force them into unwanted marriages, the Drazi have a cultural event were they basically kill each other. The Narn and the Centauri would cover for any of their people that attacked or murdered someone from the other. Many ask if we should really import such problems, problems that we took so much time and effort to erradicate."

"At least we were able to free them," Talia said, looking back at Adira and Inara. "We do what we can."

In the waiting lounge, Londo was sat by Adira and little Inara.

"So, you're going back to Davo," Londo said to Adira.

"Yes," she answered.

"Well, you should be just in time for the blooming of the star laces."

"Oh, Londo," she said. "I never wanted to hurt you-"

"Adira," he interrupted her. "I am an old man. I have been in love many times and I have been hurt many times."

He then looked down to little Inara, who as hugged tightly to her bigger sister

"But some things are worth killing for," he continued and then looked back at Adira kindly. "I will survive. I opened a bank account for you. It should be enough for you to rebuild your lifes. And," he drew a beautiful jewel from his pocket, "I beg you accept it this time."

He put the brooch on her dress and smiled at her. They hugged each other and the speakers called for the passengers of Adira's flight. She looked back, and then at Londo, hugging him again.

As Adira walked into a new life with her beloved sister, Londo kept looking, memorizing her features, until she was gone.

 **Babylon 5**  
 **Cabocla Bar**

" _...the preparations to President Santiago's visit to Pandora which is scheduled to the end of the year. The planet is a protected primitive world under Article 41 of the Constitution and home to our largest observation expedition, with nine bases throughout the planet that work to study the planet's fauna, flora, and the native Na'vi people. Pandora is unique for its planet-wide bio-neural network, which the native lifeforms evolved to interface into…_ "

Lt Commander Susan Ivanova was sat by the table, serene, listening to the news, and sipping her drink when she saw Talia Winters entering the bar and she sighed. She knew they would end up having to talk, even if she would rather never.

Talia's expression was saddened. She nodded at Susan and approached her table with a hopeful expression.

Susan took another sip of her drink and nodded for Talia to sit.

"I feel I should explain my behavior earlier," she started. "I was rude, and not at all professional."

"It's all right," Talia replied.

"No, it's not!" Susan said. "We are professionals. Personal matters shouldn't influence our actions."

"I see," Talia said, sad.

They remained silent for a time, not knowing what to say. The waiter brought Talia her drink and she took a sip from it.

"You can ask what you want to ask," Talia finally said.

"The commander mentioned how your _intelligence-gathering technique_ s were useful in your diplomatic career," Susan said.

Talia's expression remained unchanged.

"You're using it on the aliens, aren't you?" Susan asked, not too successful in hiding her disgusted face. "Do you lurk into their minds in order to advance _Humanity's interes_ ts?"

She frowned as Talia kept looking at her, silent.

"Are you lurking into my mind right now?" Susan continued asking.

"Susan," Talia replied. "You know Humans are immune to telepathy."

"I thought by now your lot would have discovered how to do it," she replied bitterly.

"They are not _my lot_. I quit sometime after we divorced. The price I had paid was just too high."

"Than let's talk about that!" Susan said, purposely ignoring Talia's last sentence. "How did you quit? How did _they_ let you quit?"

"I just did," Talia answered. "As much as their ideas and their methods are... twisted, their only interest is still the best for Humanity and the protection of our rights. The Diplomatic Corps is where I can do my best for Humanity. They knew that. So, they let me out."

"Do you really believe in it?" Susan asked, mockingly.

Talia sighed.

"I want to," she replied sincerely. "I _have_ to. It's the only way I can keep my sanity."

Susan remained silent.

Talia passed her wrist on the table to pay for the drink, stood up, gave Susan a sad smile and left.


	18. Chapter 12: Hearts of Iron

**To Sabatie:  
** _Well, I wouldn't say it is the same thing as the Arcturus device, but yes. You have to understand the scale of the Atlanti civilization. They are based mainly on the Forerunners from Halo and the Ancients from Stargate. But the Forerunner civilization only started 15 million years ago, and the Ancients only arrived in the Milky Way about 60 million years ago, though we don't know how old they were before that. Now, the Atlanti arrived at the Milky Way 300 million years ago, much earlier than the Forerunners and the Ancients, they just had more time to do things. Finally, the Humans have their prototype zero-point core (ZPC), which works very similarly to ZPMs, by extracting energy from an artificially created pocket of subspace, but is still nothing compared to true ZPMs, just a little more energetic than an antimatter core, but not much reliable. Humanity developed their ZPCs by themselves, but I can see they using Atlanti knowledge to upgrade them in the future._

 **To Blackholelord:** _  
Well, signs of covert operations and shadow organizations (as in shadowy, not Shadow-affiliated). If they are Cerberus and Section 31, I don't know. There are many organizations, some higher than others, some unaware under others' control, some secretly aligned with Starfleet, some a pain in their asses. The name I will reveal soon, or at least one name to one organization.  
Now, the most important thing, Humanity IS NOT showing signs of telepathic ability. Remember that Humanity is made by the Atlanti, we are not their actual descendants. Second, telepathy in the other races is not normal. It is known by the audience that telepathy among the younger races was introduced by the Vorlons to fight the Shadows. Hell, it is even implied that the telepath gene is the same in all races, which should be impossible by natural means! So, basically, Humans were never experimented with by the Vorlons, so they have no telepaths nor do they see the Vorlons as beings of light, but as the disgusting bioluminescent squids I see them as. Talia is a telepath because she was experimented with (I made it clear in the last chapter), so telepathy is a very unique thing among Humans, she may be the only Human telepath (and almost nobody knows about it). Now, Humans in Horizonverse do have an ability no other has, they are immune to telepathy. No telepath, not even the Human Talia or First Ones, can invade a Human mind. They can communicate, even sense the mind's presence, but not manipulate it. That is one of the three Legacies the Atlanti left Humanity (as I said in the chapter where Sinclair is a prisoner to the Minbari)._

 **To Eaglestorm27:** _  
I kind of don't like the idea of Humanity as a monster. I think it fits the USF mentality not to destroy their enemies body and soul. There will be moments when they will have to do terrible things when it will be the only way available, but they won't go mad and commit genocide or enslave the galaxy. Remember that, by now, every threat they have faced was not an actual threat to their security. Of course, there are elements who don't think that and feel betrayed, but by-n-large Humanity sees those wars as simple misunderstandings (except the Dilgar War), they were like bee stings that, individually, caused some concern but not actual harm or distress. So, they will talk their enemies to death for some time, they can even show a big stick here and there, but that is it (at least for now). This story will be about Humanity's interaction to the galaxy and the galaxy's reaction to us. It will take some time before we really see the wasp nest we've put our hands into.  
_

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 **"Hearts of Iron"**

 **Babylon 5**  
 _ **Docking Area One:**_

 _"Asgardian Starlines flight number 122451 destined to the Central Spaceport of Thermidor, has docked. Passengers, please begin boarding procedure at Gate 23. Minbari transport Mists of Tuzanor, from Minbar, is landing now by Gate 19. United Terran Starlines flight number…"_

Delenn headed to Gate 19 as soon as she heard the voice in the speakers. She kept looking impatiently towards the passengers who were coming from the gate, as well as the beautiful Minbari transport that could be seen inside the internal space-lane on the other side of the big transparinum wall.

She looked back at the gate and smiled as a young Minbari male in religious attire walked out with a bag on his back and his curious eyes looking in every direction with awe.

"Satai Delenn?" he asked as he approached her.

They both bowed and greeted each other the Minbari way, with their hands joined, their fingers making a triangular shape.

"Lennier of the Third Fane of Chudomo," he presented himself awkwardly. "I-I was sent."

"Yes, I've been expecting you," Delenn replied. Then she noticed his face was down. She smiled. "You can look up, Lennier of the Third Fane of Chudomo."

"It is forbidden," he just said, not looking up.

"I cannot have an aide who won't look up," she said, smiling. "You will be forever walking into things."

He looked uncertain.

"Please," Delenn said.

Lennier paused for a while, then finally raised his head slowly.

"Better. Now come," she said, taking him by his shoulder and walking out.

"Forgive me if I'm slow, Satai Delenn," he apologized. "But this is all quite new to me. To go from a simple noviciate to working with one of the Grey Council…"

"Your teachers spoke well of you. You will adjust," then she became serious. "You could begin by promising not to mention the Grey Council again during your stay. No one here knows of my connection. No one must find out."

"But to deny the Council-"

"I am denying nothing," she interrupted, now firm and authoritative.

Lennier lowered his head, fearful. Seeing this, Delenn's expression softened.

"It would lead to certain questions that I don't want to answer right now," she said to him firmly but calm. "You will not use my title of Satai. You will address me only as Delenn. Do you understand?"

"No," he answered sincerely. "But understanding is not required, only obedience."

"Good," she said. "Now, have the Customs officers explained to you how to get by here?"

"Yes, Sat-," he paused. "I mean, yes, Delenn. They gave me my ID link, told me how to access my accounts, the Starnet, and how to use a replicator. There is now an introduction video to Human space that is showed in every ship coming to Babylon 5."

"Good," she said, smiling. "They certainly got better since I came here the first time. But it is good you were filled in. That way there will be no surprises or gaffes."

"With all due respect, Sat-, I mean, Delenn," he said. "Everything here is a surprise. I've heard about the Humans and their magical replicator technology, everyone has! But I never had the chance to see one. They have it in the Human embassy in Yedor and many young people go there just to see it in action, but I never had the chance to. And this station," he paused looking around the buildings of the city, "is a marvel of engineering!"

"Now you are talking like a member of the Worker Caste," Delenn said.

"I know all my attention should be in my religious duties and now state duties, but wonders such as this are an interest of mine"

Delenn smiled widely.

"Yes," she said. "With such wonders waiting out here in space, how could anyone ask the young minds to keep their feet stuck on the floor."

She smiled at him and they boarded the official car waiting for them outside.

 **Babylon 5**  
 **C &C**  
 _ **Commander's Office:**_

"Commander," a security officer said as he entered the room. "There are some VIPs here to see you, sir."

"Send them in," Commander Sinclair said while looking at some files.

Two Starfleet officers with black uniforms and black metalling badges walked in. Instantaneously, Sinclair felt stiff. He remembers what Susan had told him weeks ago. About Talia Winters. About Starfleet Intelligence. But he brushed those thoughts out. The entire agency couldn't be compromised. No. He calmed down.

"I haven't received any message from Starfleet Intelligence nor did it use of the customary procedure," he said. "This visit is very unexpected."

"My apologies, commander," the man said. "It saves precious time."

"I see," Sinclair replied. "I thought S-Intel had rules, though."

"There are rules and there are rules, commander," the woman said as she walked closer to his desk. "When people from our ranks go rogue, someone has to take them down. Only intelligence agents are qualified to pursue intelligence agents."

"Since we bear greater responsibility we are afforded greater latitude," the man said, "in the interest of efficiency."

"Yes, I'm sure you are," Sinclair replied, his inner alarms going mad. "Mr-?"

"Bester," the man answered. "This is my associate, Ms Kelsey. We are looking for a rogue agent. We have reasons to believe he may be on this station."

"We need to set up a meeting as soon as possible with one of your resident diplomatic officers, Talia Winters, as well as your security and command personnel," Ms Kelsey said. "Then we'll proceed-"

"I'm not turning the station upside down because you're hunting down one rogue agent," Sinclair interrupted her. "Besides, what does Ms Winters have to do with this?"

"Not just a rogue, commander," Bester stated. "This is a very special and dangerous individual, who's presence threatens the entire United Systems Federation military structure. About Talia Winters, they were acquainted. We have reasons to believe he may contact her."

That deepened Sinclair's suspicions. The Intel operatives, as well as this rogue's interest in Ms Winters, hinted that they could be part of the group Susan told him about. He needed to be careful. He called Ms Winters and Ivanova through his comm badge and waited as they arrived minutes later. Ms Winters' face as she entered the room and saw the Intel operatives was confused and wary, as if she expected this to happen someday, but chose to pretend otherwise. They greeted him and Sinclair waved for Ms Winters to sit by the desk, as Ivanova went to stand beside him.

"His name is Jason Ironheart," Bester continued.

Talia's eye widened, she looked at them surprised.

"I believe you know him, Ms Winters," Bester said.

"Yes, he was my instructor during some S-Intel training programs," she answered.

"He is a very well trained agent," Kelsey explained. "One of our best instructors in this respect. One year ago, Jason Ironheart was reassigned to one of our military intelligence divisions, working on a covert operation."

"What kind of operation?" Sinclair asked suspiciously.

"That information is on the need-to-know basis, commander," Bester jumped in. "And you don't need to know. Let's just say that what is in his brain could compromise the USF's defense strategy and lead to the death of many of our covert operatives in other worlds."

"We think he intends to give away that information to other governments," Kelsey said.

"That's nonsense," Talia jumped in. "Jason would never do something like that."

"Many have tried, all failed because of us," Bester said. "It is not easy to keep our technological superiority intact, commander. Our job is to find him and bring him back. Alive if possible. Dead if necessary."

"Have you had any contact with Jason Ironheart since you left S-Intel?" Kelsey asked Talia.

"Video messages," she answered. "The last one was a year ago."

"You understand we'll have to interrogate you," Bester said. "For the official records."

"You can't-"

"Susan," Talia interrupted. "It's okay. It is only the usual procedure."

Sinclair nodded, he couldn't do anything if she was going by her own will. He nodded, and the Intel operatives turned to the door with her.

"Commander," Kelsey looked back. "If Ironheart has not shown yet, he will. We must be informed at once. Do not attempt any contact with him, especially you, Ms Winters."

"What level of physical threat does he represent?" Ivanova asked.

"That is something else you don't need to know," Bester said. "Just find him. We'll do the rest."

They turned back at the door with Talia with them.

"Permission to speak freely," Ivanova asked.

"Always."

"Did you see her face?" Ivanova said. "She looked like the day of reckoning has come! I am sure this division is the same she used to work for."

"Maybe," Sinclair said. "But we cannot do anything for now. Only keep our eyes and ears alert if they let anything slip."

 **Babylon 5**  
 _ **C &C:**_

Talia Winters face was grim. Her skin pale, her eyes red. She sat by the desk as Commander Sinclair and Susan Ivanova stared at her.

"Are you alright, Ms Winters?" Sinclair asked. "Were they heavy-handed in any way during your interrogation?"

"You can do nothing, commander," she replied. "With them, that it the way it is."

"Them? As in Starfleet Intelligence?" Sinclair inquired.

Talia stared at him, not saying a word. She then looked at Susan, who was visibly trying to contain her rage. If it was directed to her, Talia didn't know, but she remembered other times she had seen Susan angry. No one would want to cross that woman.

"I told him, Talia," Susan said, astonishing Talia even more. "I told him about your old acquaintances. If you want us to trust you, you will have to fill us in."

Talia kept silent for a while, looking back at Sinclair from Susan. Then she sighed and started talking.

"Commander, years ago I joined an organization within Starfleet Intelligence, a group of people who loved Humanity too much, with shared beliefs and dreams of building a world where we would be safe from any external threat."

"The way you are painting them is… different from the image Lt Commander Ivanova had when she filled me in," Sinclair said.

"Nation building is never easy," Talia replied. "I was cynical enough to know that."

"Then why leave?" Sinclair asked.

"They… We became _too_ cynical," she looked at Susan, then back at Sinclair. "We called ourselves Cadmus."

"The first King of Thebes in Greek mythology," Sinclair remembered. "He was the first Greek hero and one of the greatest slayers of monsters."

"Well, pride was one of our flaws too," Talia said. "We not only wanted to be the heroes who would slay the enemies of Mankind, but we wanted also to actually build the perfect hero."

"By creating Human telepaths," Sinclair concluded.

"Yes, commander," she continued. "Since the first contact, the lack of Human telepaths when all other races seemed to have them was very worrying, an asset we didn't have," she paused. "I volunteered to an experiment, an attempt to create a Human telepath. It would make the perfect spy, a powerful psychic unscannable to the other races due to our natural Human resistance to telepathy."

"Why?" Sinclair asked, astonished.

"Because telepaths are power, they are information. Why do you think the Narn government is so desperate to find compatible alien donors to reintroduce the telepath gene into their gene pool? Because they are an asset. One race's military wants a strong telepath to scan the enemy, the other wants one to block the scan, and the other one to cut through the block. We may have the perfect defense against telepaths but without them, we have no offense."

Sinclair leaned more into his chair, the revelations too astonishing to him.

"And they said it was necessary to protect Humanity," Sinclair supposed.

"Yes," Talia said. "The experiments were very painful, but after months I started developing telepathic abilities. That is when I met Jason. He had undergone the procedure sometime before me and was the only other one to survive it. We shared experiences. We… We comforted each other."

Talia looked apologetically at Susan, knowing that she knew. Susan's expression was neutral but just as stable as a party balloon being inflated to the limit.

"Jason is a good man, though," she said. "He wouldn't do anything they said, he wouldn't betray his people."

"I hope you're right, Ms Winters," Sinclair said.

 **Narn Regime**  
 **Narn**  
 _ **City of G'Kamazad, Capital of the Narn Regime:**_

As the sun sets to the capital of Narn, the air was clean, the planet was green again, and the farmlands could be seen from the Kha'Ri building extending to the horizon. Narn lives again. After years of terraforming, Narn was lush again. The Narn people would always be grateful to Humanity. But now they should ignore their advice. Humanity was powerful, but they valued peace too much.

"It is really a miraculous work," the Drazi liaison said, looking at the just installed, wide window behind Councilor Ha'Rok's desk. "The Humans really have outdone themselves in their restoration of your homeworld."

"Yes," Ha'Rok said. "And we are eternally grateful. But for our joined interests to bear fruit we will need Humanity to abstain of their opinion. Fortunately, I've been having talks with certain elements of their government."

"For the Drazi Freehold to accept these terms, we will need more than _some talks_." The Drazi male said.

"Of course you will," Ha'Rok replied. "This enterprise of ours will find little opposition. Everything is detailed in these papers."

Ha'Rok handled him some papers to read.

"You must understand that those cannot get out of this building," Ha'Rok continued after some time as the Drazi finished reading. "A Narn liaison to Zhabar is handling the same papers to your government by now."

He took the papers from his hand and threw them into the small pyre beside his desk. "Only we and the heavens must now the content of these papers."

"What about G'Kar?" The Drazi asked. "He is a very high ranking Narn and his presence in Babylon 5 makes him a possible breach of security"

"G'Kar would die before letting out anything that could jeopardize the Regime's interests," Ha'Rok said. "However, the Kha'Ri understands the risks. He will be kept out of this, unaware until the right time comes. For the sake of planetary security."

"It is fair," the Drazi said. "My government will be very pleased. But only if you can guarantee that there will be almost no opposition."

"Be certain we can," Ha'Rok said.

"It is a deal, then."

 **Babylon 5**  
 _ **Sector 3:**_

Talia walked by the trees of the small park. The serenity she was trying to find couldn't be found though. In Human space, she knew what silence meant, as she couldn't catch Human thoughts that weren't intentionally projecting to her. That was part of this odd immunity Humans had to telepathy. Their minds couldn't be invaded or manipulated, they could only be sensed or be talked to. Back home she knew peace. Here, aliens everywhere with their thoughts broadcasted directly into Talia's mind. It was an annoyance in the best days, torture in the worst ones.

She was sat on the lawn, feeling the wind on her hair when she felt a kind touch in her mind, a touch she knew well.

 _Talia_ , his voice said in her head. _I've been looking for you._

 _I can't see you_ , she responded. _Cadmus is here._

 _I know,_ Jason replied

 _Why are they after you?_ She asked. _Do you know what they did to me?!_

 _I do,_ he replied sadly. _That is why I waited until after they interrogated you. We need to talk, somewhere safe._

She sighed and stood up, looking around discreetly to see if she would find him, but she couldn't. She took her car to Sector 16, stopping by an ordinary-looking apartment building. When he opened the door, she melted. He was still so handsome, his eyes still so kind and concerned.

"Cute apartment," she said.

"It is ordinary, that is all I need," he replied. "I can't let them find me. If they did, I would have to kill them, or they would kill me."

"What is going on, Jason?"

"Something big, Talia," he answered. "Something that concerns not just us, but thousands, millions of lives, maybe even the whole of Humankind."

Talia remained silent.

"We are the only Human telepaths," he began. "That in itself is amazing. But Cadmus wanted more. I wanted more. When you left, I started participating in new experiments that took months. Genetic manipulation, mutated strains of serotonin and acetylcholine to increase neural processing. Five, ten, sometimes fifteen injections a day! The pain was…" he paused, not wanting to remember. "Then one day, I woke up and… and my horizons had been expanded beyond anything you can imagine! It was as if my mind was a seed and suddenly it blossomed. I exhibited powerful telekinetic abilities."

Talia's eyes widened.

"Telekinesis is-"

"A dream to Cadmus," Jason interrupted. "That was not all though. I wasn't omniscient, but I suddenly started getting flashes of truth. Past, present, future. Lie and deceit. I discovered a deep, dark beast within the structure of Humankind and how its tendrils extended to many organizations in Human space, legitimate and shadowy ones, including Cadmus."

"What do you mean?" Talia asked, baffled.

"They call themselves Adeptus Veritas, but that is all I can tell you," he pointed up. "All _they_ will let me tell you."

"They who? This Adeptus?"

"No," he laughed. "Cadmus and the Adeptus don't even know what they discovered, what they triggered inside me. When I blossomed, _they_ came to me, it should be peaceful and illuminating, but my ascension will be unstable and chaotic. _They_ will help me. The Concilium will help me."

"What are you talking about, Jason?" Talia asked, confused.

"Cadmus didn't understand, Talia," he said, ignoring her question. "The power, how far it-"

Jason put his hands on his head in pain and the station started to shake. Terrified, Talia tried to help him.

"Get out, please!" he begged, still agonizing in pain. "Quickly! I'll talk to you later!"

Talia ran out of the apartment.

 **Babylon 5**  
 _ **C &C:**_

"I don't care if you had a personal message from God himself complete with stone tablets!" Sinclair said angrily at Bester and Kelsey. "You lied to me! You withheld information and put the entire station at risk!"

"Call me crazy," Ivanova continued. "But don't you think it might have helped us to know what we were facing."

"We were doing what we thought was best," Kelsey defended herself.

"Well, you were wrong," Sinclair replied. "And now I have a dozen wounded in Sector 16 and an entire neighborhood that is blocked by some forcefield! I want the truth and I want it now!"

Bester raised his eyebrow.

"Very well," he said, "Mr Ironheart is no longer what you and I would consider… entirely human."

"Than what is he?" Sinclair asked.

"I don't know. After the last stage of the experiment, he began showing signs of stress. Paranoia, psychosis… One night he slipped out of his room, killed the head-researcher, and escaped."

"In each step of the way," Kelsy continued, "his telekinetic abilities have grown stronger, more violent."

"In his enhanced state, he is a valuable asset," Bester completed. "Other governments might've tried to grab him first. We couldn't take the chance. It was a calculated risk."

"You guys never cease to amaze me," Ivanova said, baffled. "All the moral fiber of Jack, the Reaper. What do you do in your spare time? Juggle babies over fire pits? Oops, there goes another calculated risk!"

"You're not helping the situation," Kelsey said, as to which Ivanova responded:

"Lady, you are the situation!"

"We've seen how powerful he is," Sinclair inquired. "How do expect to stop him?"

"During the experiment, Ironheart was injected with a microchip which has a fail-safe code," Kelsey answered. "It will shut him down, put him to sleep."

"We should be able to access it remotely, but somehow he is blocking us," Bester said. "We will have to do it while close to him. Use a padd or other mobile device to transmit the code directly," he looked at Sinclair. "You have two choices: do it our way or kill him before he blows out the station and everyone in it."

 **Babylon 5**  
 _ **Sector 16:**_

"Commander!" Sinclair heard Talia call him from her car parked in front of the building as he was getting out of it.

"Mr Winters," he replied. "I'm somewhat busy now. I have a security team to gather, a dangerous man to arrest, and-"

"That is the issue, commander. I've seen Jason."

"What?" Sinclair inquired, leaning to her door window. "Where?"

"It's a long story and we don't have much time," she said. "We need to talk privately."

He looked at her and sighed. She unlocked the door for him to get in and drove away.

"Jason is changing, his telekinetic abilities are growing faster then he anticipated," she said. "It's almost beyond his control. He says something called The Concilium is helping him get through but it is still very chaotic. He doesn't want to endanger the station, doesn't want to hurt anyone. But what he is becoming doesn't leave him much choice," she looked down and breathed. "He wants to see you, alone and unarmed. He will drop his defenses but only for you. I know it's asking you to take a terrible chance, but it's the only one we got."

"Alright," Sinclair sighed. "Where and when."

"Blue 16, in half an hour."

"Talia, what's between you and Jason," he asked. "Why did he come here?"

"To see me," she answered with her face down. "We were lovers."

"Weren't you married to Susan at the time?"

"Yes," she answered with a sad, ashamed face. "My secret life in Cadmus was not the only reason Susan and I's marriage crumbled. She was getting suspicious and I was getting distant. And then I met Jason, the only person that was like me, the only that experienced the same as me. He and I were the only ones who had survived the horror of the experiments, and we bonded over it."

She looked up back to Sinclair and sighed.

"He was everything to me when Susan was the one supposed to be that," she said. "Do you know what it is like when telepaths make love, commander? Not just sex, but love? You drop every defense and it's all mirrors reflecting each other's feeling deeper and deeper until somewhere along the line your… souls mix. And it's a feeling so profound it makes you hurt. You become each other, you know each other more than anyone, trust each other more than anyone. It's the only moment in which a Human's mental barriers crumble and we become vulnerable."

Sinclair stayed silent.

"He came to say goodbye, commander. He came to say goodbye."

Sinclair looked to the other side, out the car's window to the streets below. Talia wiped her tears with her hand. She parked and they got out of the car and looked around. Most people who had stayed to look were gone by now. People, be them Humans or aliens, are curious. But even they would lose interest over time. The kind of energy field that surrounded the small neighborhood wasn't there anymore, but the place was still under quarantine. Commander Sinclair was the only reason she was able to drive in. He cleared them with the Security teams.

There was still no energy there, all the buildings were all dark.

Then Talia felt the touch in her mind again, caressing it. She looked at Sinclair, who nodded and walked down the street to one of the buildings.

"Jason?" She called as she walked in. It was dark and cold. She saw him in a meditation position, sat on the floor, and hugged him. "God, Jason!"

He moaned as if in pain.

"I thought," he said, "that seeing you again, being with you again would be enough. Help me hold together. Just rest for a little while before the end. Before… I shouldn't have come… I put you at risk! Everyone! I never… never meant… never wanted..."

"I know," she comforted him. "I know."

"We thought that Cadmus was doing good for Humanity," Jason said. "And Adeptus… Their influence runs deep and wide. They're pulling strings behind the scene. They are more powerful than you can begin to imagine. I see it all, Talia. I see it all. Their manipulations and blackmailing and conspiracies and dealings with old, malevolent entities…!"

"Jason," she said.

"I'm no more Jason, Talia. I'm… something else. I'm becoming…"

"Becoming what?" Sinclair asked, speaking for the first time.

"Everything," Jason answered.

"Talia said you're being helped in your… journey," Sinclair inquired.

"Yes. The Concilium guides me."

"What is the Concilium?" The commander asked.

"They are a group of beings that govern the higher planes, their government in a deeper way than we can understand. They are the voice and the will of the Atlanti."

"The Atlanti?" Sinclair asked, his mind already theorizing.

"An ancient race, one that stood alongside the Vorlons and the other First Ones for unaccountable ages," Jason looked down and smiled. "The knowledge I acquired is vast and all I wanted is to share it with you. But you will end up finding everything about them in the Halo. There are more important matters for now."

He looked at Talia and then back at Sinclair.

"The Cadmus is dedicated to one thing, commander. Power. And behind them, you can find one of the many tentacles of the Adeptus Veritas. They, on the other hand, are dedicated to no more than control. Control over the government, the economy, the courts. Control over history, over matter and thought itself. But there is something even more powerful. Something they didn't know existed until I crossed the line. This is power were are not meant to have, not yet, not for a long time. We're not ready for it."

"Bester and Kelsey are Cadmus operatives, not your regular Starfleet Intelligence officer," Talia said. "If they take Jason, they will dissect him, take him apart to find out what combination of drugs releases this power."

"Can you imagine what they would do with it?" Jason asked Sinclair. "What anyone would do with it?"

"Which is exactly why they say you shouldn't be allowed to leave this station alive. Why should I trust you? I already have dozens of people hurt."

"An accident," Jason replied. "At each new level, it takes me a while to adjust. I have to fight every minute to control the forces in my head. If I'm distracted, for even a second-"

"What about the researcher you killed?" Sinclair kept inquiring.

"I didn't want to, but he was the only one who could replicate the process. And he wouldn't stop. There must never be any more like me, not until we are ready to do it on our own with no shortcuts. The Atlanti tried to take shortcuts once too in search for their ascension, it only created horror and death."

He paused, then continued.

"I mean you no harm. If I wanted I could vaporize you right now with a single thought. Please, you must believe me."

Sinclair looked at Talia who nodded, trustful.

"Assuming I do," Sinclair said. "What do you want from me?"

"Your help," was the answer. "The process is normally peaceful and safe, but my case is not conventional by any means. If I reach the last level inside the station, I will tear it apart. I need to get away from here. I need time to finish… becoming, and then I will be gone."

Sinclair thought for a while and nodded. He talked to Susan and Garibaldi to clear the path for them. They would take Jason through the VIP docking bay. Jason's shuttle would be there, an old civilian version Delta Flyer. Sinclair ordered the ship to be tractored into position.

They arrived at the VIP docking bay. Jason seemed to be just before collapsing, barely able to stay on his feet. Sinclair and Talia grabbed him and held him on feet when Talia was suddenly hit by a phaser beam and collapsed to the ground.

They looked back and Bester and Kelsey stood there, both holding a phaser pistol and a padd.

"No, I refuse" Jason groaned, his hand extended in a defensive position. "I am not going back with you!"

Bester and Kelsey said nothing and pointed their phaser at him.

"This man is under my protection!" Sinclair states coming between them and Jason.

Bester's expression twisted.

"You don't know what you're doing!" He shouted and pointed the gun at them.

But when he fired, the beam hit an invisible field and bounced upwards. Jason took his hand from his head and waved it quickly, making Bester fly into the wall.

"Ironheart!" He heard Kelsey shout. Then he looked back and saw her with the phaser on Talia's head. "This time, it is not set to stun."

Bester got up quickly and got the padd from the floor

"You have no choice," he said. "I will shut you down and all of this will have been for nothing."

"Please," Jason said. "Don't make me do this."

He tapped the padd's screen. Jason fell to his knees in pain. His hand on his head, he was screaming. The air around him seemed distorted and the station started to tremble.

Then he rose his head and opened his eyes. They were glowing with a blue-ish white color. He was feeling no pain anymore.

He rose up. Bester and Kelsey looked baffled.

"Bester!" the Intel operative heard someone shout and felt Sinclair's strong punch to his mandible, falling to the floor.

Sinclair looked back as Kelsey shot. The beams, however, couldn't hit Jason. They were stopped by some kind of psychic force field.

" **You cannot harm me,** " Jason said, his voice sounding like a multitude of voices. " **You cannot harm one who has dreamed a dream like mine.** "

She shot again and with a movement of Jason's hand, she disintegrated in front of everyone's eyes. The wind stopped, as did the quake. Jason looked at Sinclair, his supernatural, glowing eyes unnerving the commander.

"Thank you for helping me, commander," Jason said, his voice now normal again and his eyes fading back to normal. "Sorry for the work I put you through, but I couldn't just be beamed into my ship in my… condition," he looked at Talia. "Take care of her, commander."

As Jason walked into the VIP docking bay, Sinclair ran to wake Talia up. It took a while, but he managed to wake her. Sinclair saw Talia's eyes widen as she looked at the window.

"Jason," she said and Sinclair saw the Delta Flyer outside the station.

"Sinclair to Ivanova," he called. "I want to know what is he doing."

 _"Nothing,"_ she answered. _"He is not moving to the jump gate, he is just sitting there."_

"Keep monitoring."

 _"Picking up and energy source, sir,"_ Ivanova interrupted him.

"How big?" Sinclair asked

 _"Off the scale!"_ was her answer

Suddenly, the ship disappeared in an exploding ball of light and what seemed like a humanoid form of light appeared and disappeared.

"Talia," they heard Jason's voice.

They looked back an there he was, normal.

"B-But-"

"I must be quick. For _they_ won't let me interfere much," he interrupted her. "I have become. In memory of love, I give you a gift. The only gift I have to give."

He leaned down and kissed her passionately. As Talia's eyes shut down in bliss, Sinclair looked astonished as Jason started to glow, his body became a swirl of tentacles of light. He shot up, disappearing into the sky, and Talia collapsed to the floor.

" _Goodbye, commander,_ " Sinclair heard Jason's voice filling the air. " _I will see you again. In a million years._ "

 **Babylon 5**  
 _ **C &C:**_

You realize, of course, my superiors will believe none of this," Bester told the commander.

"Yes," Sinclair said with a smug smile. "Especially since, in about an hour, we'll have a small accident with data storage that will erase the file you just saw."

"So what do you suggest?" Bester asked.

Sinclair looked at Garibaldi.

"Something close to the truth," he said. "That Ironheart's ship escaped B5 but exploded before it could enter the jump gate."

"And if I refuse?" Bester asked to test the waters.

"Than my report will mention," Sinclair looked down to the padd on his desk, "how you lied to us, endangered this station, and through your interference caused the death of your fellow operative. And that is only the problems I could cause for you with the _legitimate_ part of S-Intel."

"Not much of a choice, is it?" Bester said with a clear hatred in his eyes.

"It gets better," he said and stood up. "Your report will indicate that Talia Winters was not responsible for her actions in helping Ironheart. That she was being threatened and that Starfleet Intelligence should not file a request to the USF Diplomatic Corps for her to be penalized."

"That is a lie," Bester stated as if he cared at all.

"Yes, it is," Sinclair said. "What's your point?"

"We booked for you a flight back to Earth that is leaving in 20 minutes," Garibaldi said. "Be on it."

Bester looked from Garibaldi back to Sinclair and opened his mouth a bit as if he was going to say something. However, he just nodded and stood up.

"Be seeing you, commander," he nodded to him and left.

"Will you tell anyone in Paris about what Ironheart said?" Garibaldi asked Sinclair. "About Cadmus and the Adeptus?"

"I don't know," he answered. "I'm not sure of what we would accomplish. Jason was feverish, paranoid. It may all be true, or it may not. But to think something this… rotten could exist within the USF, within Starfleet! Makes me think twice before trusting a politician with this."

"Got that right."

"Yes," Sinclair replied. "But one thing I find interesting is what Ironheart said about how he was being _guided_ by the Atlanti."

"Didn't they go extinct thousands of years ago?"

"Yes," Sinclair said. "We know very few things about them, all of which we know through the Éonns. We know they once had some influence on Earth, that they were old like the Éonns and the Vorlons, and that they went extinct after creating the Crescent. That is it. We don't know where they came from nor what they looked like. But if Ironheart said they were guiding him, does that mean they went through the same process as him?"

"You mean become some sort of cosmic entity?" Garibaldi laughed. "Maybe. He said that we would find more about them in the Halo. Does that mean they were the ones who built it?"

"Maybe," Sinclair replied "But we should focus on more mundane things for now. Many people were injured in this accident.

"How's Talia?"

"Better, resting," Sinclair answered.

"Good," Garibaldi said. "I wonder what Ironheart meant when he said he gave her a gift. If I ask, do you think she would tell me?"

"No," Sinclair smiled and left.

Far from there, in an apartment building on the USF embassy, Talia Winters was sat by her table.

The dish in front of her was full. She couldn't touch it, she couldn't eat. She passed her hands through her hair and looked at the fork. The effort was big, her head started to burn, but suddenly she saw the fork move an inch and fall from the dish.

She sighed.

 **Babylon 5**  
 **Vorlon Embassy**  
 _ **Ambassador Kosh's apartment:**_

This station was surely an odd place. But nothing that has ever happened there could have astonished a Vorlon so much as what just happened.

He could sense it, the familiar energy spike that seemed to fill the entire psychic plane of reality and make him blind for a fraction of a second.

He knew that feeling, he was there almost twelve thousand years ago. He remembers the beautiful planet that was Saa'n, and Kaldosh, and the young Atlanti male.

He sensed the multiple surges of energy in the station, how the Human named Ironheart was reaching Ascension through a different path then the Atlanti method.

And to think a low Human would achieve this! The gift of godhood!

What other wonders B5 would unveil? Kosh certainly was more enthusiastic than most Vorlons, but this was maybe the energy of this station!

He would observe. He would observe and report to his people. Observe and learn.

 **United Systems Federation**  
 **Adanna**  
 _ **Wakanda, Capital of the Adannan Federation:**_

There is a saying: _Every human world has a heart donated by Earth_. One of the planets that embodies the most this belief is Adanna, the Black Jewel of the Stars. Unique in every aspect, yet still so visibly African in body and soul. Like Asgard, Valinor, Cortesa, as well as some other Human worlds, Adanna and its people are very recognizable and unique.

The sun was high and mighty this day and the glistening mist of the Mocambo Falls would break down the light rays in many directions and colors in what looked like a rain of colored diamond dust. The Falls were higher than any of the many skyscrapers of the beautiful city of Wakanda, which stood proud at the plateau's foot, cut by the emerald-colored River Palmares and by the tropical forest to west and east. Far away, to the horizon, the magnificent Mount Olodumare could be seen.

"You know, Mr Bester" Parliamentarian Idowu Anagonye said with the report on his hand to the man sat beside him in his car, which hovered between the skyscrapers of this beautiful city. "This development is very unfortunate. We had great hopes in Cadmus' work."

"It is most unfortunate," Bester answered. "But the project is all but dead. Ironheart killed the only man who could replicate the process and destroyed any data on it."

"Precise and efficient, as expected of one of your operatives."

Bester nodded.

"Cadmus is still very important to our plans, though," Anagonye continued. "Ironheart's scape is no reason for us to end our association. But, as you know well, the illusion of your independence must still be kept to your subordinates."

"As usual," Bester answered.

Anagonye opened a compartment in front of him and took some paper documents.

"You will start a new project," he gave Bester the papers. "One that promises to be easier to handle. It was discovered that exposure to element zero in the right conditions can produce individuals capable of manipulating mass effect fields."

"The applications…" Bester said looking the papers, then he looked up back to Anagonye, giving a shadow of a smile. "It could be very useful to Humanity."

Anagonye smiled.

"I'll be going back to Earth in two days," he said. "Rumors are spreading in Paris that Santiago plans to push for more integration with the aliens. That he is thinking even about allowing for a limited amount of alien immigration," he laughed. "He is digging his own grave, his popularity is shrinking. Let's see for how long he can keep it together. Then, when the time is right."

As Bester got out of the car and back to the apartment, he looked at the papers in his hand. It was promising, very promising.

The Biotic Project would give Humanity a fresh, new asset.

* * *

 **A/N: As is obvious, Adanna is a planet based on MCU's Wakanda.**


	19. Chapter 13: Legacies of War

**A/:N: Some of you seem to be confused about this so I'll clarify. Every world within the USF is a Human world. The Asgardians in 'The Horizons Beyond' are just as Human as anyone else, they are descendants of Terrans, and Asgard was once a Terran colony. It is only their culture, architecture, clothing, ship- and weapon-design that are based on MCU's Asgard. Now, the Atlanti, I imagine them closer to the Asgardians from MCU in strength, lifespan, and physical prowess than Horizonverse Asgardians (Humans from Asgard). Actually, I imagine the average Atlanti as comparable to, say, Sif and the Warrior Three or even Thor or a Forerunner with full battle armor/combat skin.  
The same to Valinor, Eldaron, Adanna (which capital is called Wakanda), and Aquaria. They are all Human worlds populated by Humans who descend from Terrans. Valinor is based on Tolkien's work (both in-universe and in real life) with the style of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. Imagine their cities as bigger versions of Rivendell and Lothlorien. Their clothing, aesthetics, and architecture, all are based on Tolkien's work, especially Elven. Eldaron is basically Alderaan in culture, architecture, climate, and clothing, but it was founded by early Valinorans. Adanna is very much based on MCU Wakanda as well as the one from the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon. No vibranium, though. Aquaria is an ocean planet, and their cities are a mix of Gungan and Mon Calamari cities from Star Wars, and Atlantis from DCEU. The Aquarians are, however, still very normal (to 26th century standards) Humans. They can't breathe underwater or anything. They just live in underwater cities, grow algae and sea plants, and fish seafood, since their planet is fully covered by water.**

 **The same thing with technology. The USF is generally in the level I think the Federation would be in the same year. But they are more advanced in some aspects, less in others. Their cloaking devices, for example, are comparable to 23rd-century Klingon cloaks.**

 **Also, I posted a message to you in the reviews, but if you haven't seen it, I must say that in many orthographical corrections of previous chapters, I ended up uploading Chapter 2 were Chapter 1 should be and the next chapters just followed. Since I didn't have a back up of Chapter 1, for it was written a long time ago, I had to rewrite it. I did my best, trying to put in it everything I remembered the original had. I already posted this new Chapter 1. Sorry for the mistake.**

 **And, lastly, I am fixing the Timeline chapter. I updated the dates, pushing some events forward in time to align them with the Human timeline. For example, when the events of Mass Effect start kicking in, Liara will be basically the same age as in the game, even if the events will occur in the 26th century in THB, as opposed to the 22nd century in the game. Another example. Now, Valen will arrive in 1530, instead of 1260, but it will still be one thousand years in the past.  
**

 **The new Timeline ends with the Turian contact, though. Those are the events that are pretty settled and I don't want to get more spoiler-ish. I will be adding to the Timeline as the events will unfold. Also, some events from the past, such as those regarding to Atlanti history, will be omitted by now or be mentioned very enigmatically in the Timeline, as I want to unfold them in-story.**

 **Now, let's answer your reviews:**

 **To Eaglestorm27:  
** _You're right. I based Cadmus' name on Project Cadmus from DC. I saw the parallels, both organizations are very shadowy and morally ambiguous, both claim to do what is best for Humanity, and both try to create 'heroes' to defend Humanity. I also based it in mythology as well. Cadmus was the first Greek hero and a slayer of monsters.  
I think the Atlanti had many allies during their 300 million years in the Milky Way. It is a very long time. Alliances are born and die, enemies become friends, as friends become enemies. The Éonns were the only ones who have been on the Atlanti side since the beginning. About this alliance of non-aligned First Ones you said, I don't know. You see, I imagine that the First Ones were very apart, very inward-looking. They would spend millions of years without contacting each other. The Vorlons could have had their civilization destroyed by the Thirdspace Aliens and the others wouldn't have even noticed until it knocked on their doors (In my interpretation, at least).  
About battle armor, yes, Starfleet has them. As you know, I based much of the Star Trek part of Horizonverse on Star Trek Online, in which you can have a variety of battle armors._

 **To the stargate time traveler:  
** _I always liked that concept of a flawed utopia. Not a dystopia disguised as a utopia, but a real utopia that is flawed, that is maintained by not so moral actions. I call this trope Walled Eden, since even the Garden of Eden itself was walled from the outside world and guarded by a warrior angel wielding a freaking flaming sword. You see, I can imagine a society that is, not perfect, but orders of magnitude better than even the most developed country we have now. But I can't imagine one that is all that and very open to the universe and too hard set on its morals. It would just crumble, be it by too much immigration, by too much moral rigidity (which would keep them from doing what must be done when they need to), or external sabotage. Now, a utopia that is closed, not completely, but closed enough, and that is willing to disregard morals sometimes, even if just unofficially in the shadows, is one I can believe. That is a utopia I think is possible, but it is also the most dangerous kind, as it can be turned upside down into a dystopia if we get too complacent and less vigilant._

 **To Sabatie:  
** _You're right. Humanity isn't stupid. They know that, if they weren't the top dogs in technology, they would be run over by the other races (as happened to Earth Alliance every time they kept their necks unprotected, except, maybe, in regarding their relations with the Interstellar Alliance under Sheridan)._  
 _The part of the Ascension technology, well, it is not so easy. I think they will keep looking into it, yes, but won't have much success. However, you must remember that the procedure made Ironheart's transition too unstable. Maybe he would have never actually ascended without the Atlanti guiding him but, dunno, literally become energy by dissolving into individual particles. one with the universe, but not much of consciousness for him. Also, it is not very surprising to the Atlanti at all. As the timeline shows, they experimented with so many different methods in their search for Ascension, some leading to terrible things. The Vorlons too, when they built the gate that brought the Thirdspace Aliens. They all stumbled and fell, Humanity is just doing the same. About the Atlanti not interfering, well, sometimes it is possible. Some individual Atlanti may do it. The smaller the interference, the easier it is to hide it from the Concilium's all-seeing watch._

 **To ferduran:  
** _They already know it, but it doesn't affect them too much, as they already seem Humanity do many impossible things. Also, the USF's policy is to keep the relay inside the Crescent so they don't need to share it with the others, at least for now. And this pisses off many governments. This will change, though, maybe when Humanity opens up more._

 **To raw666:** _  
Maybe, but I hope I'm able to wrap it up.  
_

 **To Chloe:** _  
Supergirl? About the Hydra part, interesting comparison._

 **To D.Y.T.:  
** _Not space communist, but post-scarcity. So you could call it post-capitalist. There are no 'taking of the means of production by the proletariat' or anything. First, one needs to know that capitalism and most of its mechanisms only make sense in a world where scarcity exists. If scarcity is eradicated (or largely reduced), capitalism can't exist unless we artificially simulate scarcity to keep the rich/poor division. Now, Humanity in Horizonverse (my universe) is not communist (and I think the Federation from Star Trek isn't either). It is somewhat socialist, yes,_ _but Socialism is not Communism. This is just one of many types of Socialism, some of which incorporate Capitalism in its form. In the USF, e_ _veryone is entitled to a certain amount of energy (which would be their money and you can call these "handouts" a form of universal basic income) and services such as education and health care are readily available and efficient. However, people have wide freedoms and entrepreneurship, innovation, and competition are still encouraged. That's why corporations such as Asgardian Starlines still exist (though they are structured very differently than present-day companies). Also, it's an information- and creativity-based economy. The Replicator Network allows people and companies to "post" their creative and scientific creations and be paid "royalties" for every person who "buys" them in a replicator. If you want apple pie, you can choose between countless recipes that people created and posted and the one you choose rewards its creator. In this world, Toyota wouldn't build cars in a factory, its main job would be designing new cars and parts (creative work) and developing new car-related technologies such as engines (scientific work). Then you could go to a Toyota shop, choose a car (or customize one to your taste) and it would be made for you right there. You would pay for its cost of production in energy, as well as the "royalties" for the design and the technology used. That is pretty capitalist to me (though with a very different flavor than the capitalism we know today). Also, there are no taxes. Remember, energy is money, and something's cost in energy never changes so, in a way, there is no inflation (most of the time). That is also why Energy Credits can't be exchanged for alien money. They are more of a symbol to help our reward-oriented brains find meaning in our activities than actual money. Back to the absence of taxes. If the government wants new chairs, it can just produce the energy needed and replicate new chairs, or buy them from a "chair designing company" or a "chair designer" or whatever._

 _ **To CatScratcher:**_  
 _I wasn't supposed to actually write a story. I'm more of a worldbuilder. Also, as the lore freak that I am, I like to share these detailed pieces of information. Maybe in the future, I will change the format of the story, put the entries at the end of the chapters, perhaps._

 **To justinmill22:**  
 _To quote Ser Arthur Dayne in Game of Thrones: Now it begins._

 **To the stargate time traveler:** _  
I'm thinking about adding some Farscape elements. There will be a moment in the last story arcs in which Starfleet will search the galaxy for some artifacts. The galaxy is very big, and Mass Effect and Babylon 5 don't even cover a fraction of it. But it could remain as_ _only_ _a reference too. I still don't know. Also, I had wrongfully put the event of his disappearance in 2350, but it was actually 2000. I already corrected it._

 **To all the readers. I love reading your reviews, you look at Horizonverse with a perspective that is very interesting. You can send all the reviews you want.**

 **Thanks.**

* * *

 **Chapter 13  
"Legacies of War"**

 **Horse Head Nebula**  
 **Volga System, 321 light-years from Shanxi**

As the USS Starkiller warped in, Captain John Sheridan looked at the large object on the viewscreen. The mass relay's core glowed bright blue, with the rotating halos around it.

He sighed. He didn't like it, but orders are orders. There were still many relays to explore in the Exodus Cluster, but they were now focusing on Horse Head Nebula. This relay was on the edge of the system, opposite to another one that connected directly to Shanxi.

Starfleet has estimated that the two clusters which are served by the mass relays cover a volume of space ranging in between a radius of 500 and 1000 light-years, with primary relays generally in the outermost systems, though this was not a strict rule. This pattern is probably common to other clusters as well. It soon became obvious by the disposition of the relays that the race that used them should be capable of FTL travel in some other form that not the relays, probably by the use of element zero. This unknown form of travel, though, would obviously be slower than the relays themselves. This, allied with the fact that Starfleet still couldn't determine accurately where a mass relay would lead before activating it, made Sheridan very worried. They could be sharing this cluster with another, unknown race, maybe even the builders of the mass relays. He would advise his superiors to be more careful.

"Sir, Captain Svendsen is hailing us," his comms officer reported.

"Put him through."

The bridge of the USS Saxony appeared on the viewscreen. Captain Svendsen was sitting regally on his chair in the center of the bridge. _Once a prince, always a prince_. Sheridan thought.

"John," he said. "Good to see you. We finally discovered this relay's activation codes. We are still working with its comms transceivers, though. We just sent a probe through, it should be back with information about the other side very soon."

"Good," Sheridan answered. Alaric was always so enthusiastic. In some ways, they were so alike. "I'll be sending Regina now."

"No, you can keep her for now. She still has five hours of leave, let she and Lieutenant Valdez have their time together. Besides, it is only usual stuff, she won't be needed here."

Sheridan smiled.

"So you are going in first."

"Yes, we are leaving in one hour. I'm gonna deploy the subspace transceiver as I arrive. You can come through after I contact you. See you on the other side," Alaric said and the viewscreen went black.

 **Babylon 5**  
 **Command and Control**  
 _ **Commander's Office:**_

"I understand your concerns, Ambassador Kalika, but they are a diplomatic delegation from an officially recognized government," Commander Sinclair said to the female Abbai official in front of him. "If they want to talk to the governments of the galaxy, shouldn't we hear them? Wouldn't Babylon 5 be the perfect place for that?"

Ambassador Kalika sighed.

"I understand your point, Commander. But the sentiment among the other League ambassadors and residents isn't very forgiving. You know what they did to all of us."

"That is why Ambassador Fesa'ra is here, to build bridges," he replied.

"Their very presence here is unsettling. Since the war, the Dilgar have been too occupied rebuilding their civilization. As they are under USF supervision, we kept quiescent, we felt secure. It helped that they kept to themselves, rarely leaving their space, trading only the necessary."

"But now the occupation will be over by the end of the year," Sinclair concluded.

"Exactly. We trusted you to keep them on a leash and now you are releasing them."

"Yes, we are releasing them. And the first thing they decided to do is to come here and talk to you, to establish relations with the rest of the galaxy despite the sporadic incidents with League ships violating their space," he made sure to add that, "isn't it a good reason to try?"

"There is still bad blood between us." That was the only thing she said. She didn't comment on the commander's implicit accusations either. She knew very well that many League governments and officials, including her own, had been paying raiders to cause problems within Dilgar space. They made sure to avoid Starfleet and any connection to their governments back home. It was dangerous but they just couldn't let it go. And, as much as Kalika wanted to, she couldn't either.

She sighed.

"Right, Commander," she finally said. "I will convince the other League ambassadors to come to the meeting with an open mind."

"That is all I ask," he smiled at her.

As Ambassador Kalika walked out, his comm badge beeped.

"Sinclair," he responded.

 _"Jeff, you need to come to the Main Brig."_

"What happened, Michael."

 _"I have a very injured Dilgar here. She was attacked by Na'Thoth, G'Kar's new aide, just after coming out of docking bay."_

That caught Sinclair's attention. There were no new Dilgar scheduled to arrive in the station, their delegation was already here. He sighed. That act of violence would just inflame more trouble.

"I'm on my way," he answered and walked out. One more diplomatic crisis on his hands. He sighed.

A normal day in Babylon 5.

 **Horse Head Nebula**  
 **Unknown system**  
 _ **Turian dreadnought Spirits of Retribution:**_

General Desolas Arterius watched attentively to his crew as they executed their duties. It was a rather big battle fleet, more than 300 ships, but it was suited for the occasion. As a highly militarized species... Actually, as a species whose economy and society is almost entirely dedicated for war, the Turians needed constant training and experience. But those were somewhat peaceful times. For centuries, the enemies the Turians fought were pirates and marauders. Nothing really threatening. But they kept watchful to any real menace that could threaten Citadel space and the Turian Hierarchy. Meanwhile, they kept their troops hot and alert by performing almost constant war games.

This battle fleet had just come from one of these. They were transporting well-armed troops, ground combat gear, and ships. The force had been divided into three groups, three battle fleets with about 300 ships each. Each lead by a dreadnought, some of the most powerful vessels the Hierarchy has ever built. They wouldn't actually fire at each other, of course, but it was important to make it the most realistic possible.

Desolas' attention was back to his ship when it dropped from FTL into a system with a dormant mass relay in it.

"Report," he ordered.

"The system is secure, sir. It has a dormant mass relay, designated 314, and an active one in the opposite edge of the system."

"Good," he said. That meant they could easily establish contact with the Miracle of Palaven and the Raptor's Shadow if they needed to. "What is the system composition?"

"The system has four planets, sir. One of them is a gas giant, just perfect for us to discharge our cores."

Desolas nodded. That was a foundational weakness of FTL drives. They would accumulate static electrical charge over longer voyages. If allowed to reach charge saturation, the FTL core would discharge into the hull of the ship, frying the crew, burning the electric system, and even melting the metal bulkheads. The only way to avoid this is to land on a planet or discharge the core directly into its magnetic field. This inherent flaw in FTL technology was a stone in the shoe of all space-faring races. It hindered long-range exploration and military expeditions, confining them to packed clusters.

Most species, especially the three Council races, have studied ways to mitigate the effects of charge saturation with some success. Some long-range vessels were designed to store the excess heat for longer periods, but the technology was expensive and bulky. Technology which was not yet refitted into his ship.

He ordered the helmsman to set a course to this planet. As the rest of the fleet followed the dreadnought and went to discharge their cores, he looked around again.

His crew. They were all warriors, fierce, disciplined, lethal. That is what the Hierarchy was made of. But it wasn't enough.

Being soldiers wasn't enough.

Desolas was not only a military man. Being a high ranking general makes you a politician in all but name. He learned to exchange favors, to make alliances, to tell half-truths, to hear the whispers. And the whispers were ever more dreading. The Turians were warriors, but they have no war to fight. Their talents wasted with patrolling and anti-piracy actions. Military readiness was needed because of the constant threat of the Terminus Systems, of course, but it still wasn't enough. Being warriors is all they know. To make up for this, the Turians have relied ever more on others through the years. The Volus all but ran the Turian economy in exchange for protection. But it was ever more clear who's got the better end of the bargain. The Volus would lend them money, then demand more autonomy, more ships, more trading rights. The Asari would have their protectors while keeping their technological edge. The government debt was pilling up. That had to stop.

Bodyguards, that is what they have become. The Krogan Rebellions showed the Turian strength to the galaxy and earned them a seat on the Citadel Council, but the galaxy have forgotten who they are. Only in war they would prove themselves, take their righteous place.

"Sir," his helmsman, Craxus, got his attention.

"Did we finish discharging the drive?" Desolas asked.

"Yes, sir. But my scanners are picking something strange."

That picked Desolas' attention. He walked to Craxus' controls.

"The 314?" He asked, looking at the consoles.

"Yes, sir. Its core is rotating. The relay was supposed to be dormant, but it was activated."

That was something that could worry Desolas. Since the disaster of the Rachni Wars, the Council forbade any non-sanctioned relay activation. It fell to the Turians to enforce that law, and they did it with cold efficiency.

"It must be some rogue group," he said. "Pirates, maybe."

"It may also be a first contact situation," his second-in-command, Trallus, suggested. "In that case, I recommend that we deal with this with caution."

Desolas heard him. It was logical and probably correct, as Trallus usually is. But a thought was now crawling through his head.

"Order the fleet to form a defensive perimeter around the relay," he said. "I want all signals sent to the relay transmitter to be jammed. Weapons hot, just in case."

 **Babylon 5**

Commander Sinclair walked through the corridors on his way to the Main Brig when he saw Garibaldi coming through.

"Michael," he called. "Have you got an identity on her?"

"According to her ship, her name is Gyla Lobos," Garibaldi answered. "She is a free trader. Came from Sector 47."

"That is Minbari space," Sinclair said, surprised.

"Minbari ship, Minbari clothes, and Minbari ID," Garibaldi added. "But she is no Minbari."

"Na'Toth gave you any reason for the attack?"

"Nothing intelligible," Garibaldi answered. "She was totally berserk while we held her. Kept yelling _Deathwalker_."

"Deathwalker?" Sinclair said

"Yeah, who doesn't remember that name? I know I do."

Sinclair sighed as they entered the turbolift.

When they arrived, they entered the room, in which Na'Toth was sat with her hands tied. Behind her stood two Starfleet Security officers, phaser rifles ready.

"Na'Toth, why did you attack that woman?" He asked authoritatively, yet she remained silent.

"Listen," Garibaldi said. "If she dies, you will rot in a cage until your spots turn gray."

"Na'Toth, we want to help you, but you will have to tell us why."

"It is Chon-Kar," she finally said.

"The blood oath?" Sinclair asked.

"Yes. When the Dilgar conquered Hylak 7, my uncle's family were there. Deathwalker used them as experiments! They all died, except my uncle, who managed to escape back to Narn. But not before she implanted a machine on his brain. It slowly killed his mind and spirit," her face became grim while she looked at nothingness, "and we could do nothing but watch. When he died, my family took Chon-Kar, and our vengeance is at hand."

"The Dilgar invasion was eighteen years ago," Sinclair stated. "If Deathwalker was alive, she would be an old woman. Besides, she was confirmed dead at the end of the war."

"Her face is carved into the minds of my entire brood. I smell my uncle's blood on her hands! I tell you it is she!"

Sinclair took Garibaldi out of the room.

"I want to know everything about that woman," he said.

"You and me both," Garibaldi answered and walked out.

As Sinclair was about to walk back in, Ambassador G'Kar appeared.

"Commander Sinclair, my abject apologies for this terrible incident. I don't know what came over my attaché," he said just as he walked in with the commander, looking reprehensibly to Na'Toth, who turned his face from his look. "Let me assure you that I'm personally prepared to make amends to her victim."

"Her victim is still in the Main Sickbay. I thought it would be more convenient to have her in one of our Starfleet installations instead of a civilian hospital in the city, considering the involvement of the attaché of a foreign ambassador. If she lives I will convey your offer."

"I see," G'Kar answered. "If you will release Na'Toth to my custody, I will take full responsibility for her conduct."

"Given the circumstances, it will be impossible. I will agree to house arrest pending our investigation. But I warn you that the Prosecutor's Office will issue a complaint for her to be charged for attempted murder or at least severe assault."

G'Kar nodded.

"Take Ms. Na'Toth to the Narn Embassy," he orders the security officers. "She is not to leave, for any reason."

"You have my gratitude, Commander," G'Kar thanked Sinclair and walked out of the room with Na'Toth

 **Horse Head Nebula**  
 **Unknown System**  
 _ **Spirits of Retribution:**_

"Sir, something is coming through!"

Desolas looked at the screens as they showed the small vessel arriving beside the relay in a streak of light.

"Report," he ordered.

"The ship is small. Frigate-sized," the sensors officer answered him. "I can't detect any element zero on it. No mass effect core, no kinetic barriers. It has no visible weapon ports either, only small holes that could be torpedo tubes of some kind."

"It must be some primitive race that just discovered mass effect and stumbled upon a dormant relay," Trallus suggested. "I recommend first contact proceedings."

Desolas nodded, thinking back to that idea he had just before the ship arrived. He looked at it. The design was odd, different than anything he has seen. He looked at its huge power readings and chuckled. Their sensors must be uncalibrated, somehow.

"They are hailing us, sir," one of the officers said. "Do we answer them?"

Desolas looked back at the holographic screen. The small ship was completely surrounded. Desolas had some options. They were an ignorant, primitive species, smart enough to activate a relay, but too stupid, too reckless to know how risky their action was. He could initiate first-contact, introduce this race to the wider galaxy, reprimand them, and gain nothing for the Hierarchy. Or he could fire at them, annex this species to the Hierarchy as a protectorate, and parade through the triumphal arches on Palaven in glory. The Council would complain, of course, but they wouldn't interfere once it was done. Besides, Desolas needed this. He needed the influence a new victory would bring. With that, he could rise to the position of Primarch and guide the Turian people to the right path.

All of that passed through his mind in a fraction of second. Desolas touched the dark brown, metallic orb hanging from his neck. He found it years ago, close by some newfound Prothean ruins in the edge of Citadel space that he was defending from Terminus mercenaries. The object was the size of a pebble, dark with small circuitry-like lines that glowed dimly in the dark. He made it an amulet to wear around his neck. It was a symbol to him, a legacy from the greatest race that ever walked the stars, the Protheans, to a member of the race that has the greatest potential.

He looked at his weapons officer.

"Order the fleet to fire," he said. "We will destroy that little ship and go through the relay. This species must be made aware of their reckless stupidity."

The officers seemed conflicted for one second, but they were soon back to their work.

He stared at the little ship onscreen as the weapons went hot. It had passed no more than a mere moment since the alien ship arrived. They would give them no time to escape.

He looked at the screen somewhat worried after ten of his cruisers fired their mass accelerator rounds at the ship. Was it too much? Maybe. But his face became surprised when the ship started moving faster than anything he has ever seen, evading most of the cruiser's fire. It was trapped, though, cornered, and Desolas' mood increased when he saw four of the cruisers managing a hit. Still, the small ship was not destroyed. It was only knocked off course, parts of its hull being torn out by the power of Turian weaponry. Any other ship of the same size would have been completely vaporized.

"Sir, the alien ships' power signature has increased!"

Desolas could barely acknowledge his officer's statement when one of his cruisers exploded.

"What was that!?" He asked.

"The ship fired some kind of beam weapon, sir! We can't make sense of what it is, but it just ignored the Taetrus' Pride's kinetic barriers!"

This ship was strong! It was just cutting holes through his cruisers with impunity with this strange beam weapon of theirs.

"Fire disruptor torpedoes at it, full spread! I want it slowed down!"

The multiple missiles headed to the alien vessel, their beams intercepting a number of them before some slammed on the ship's hull creating random unstable mass effect fields that tore the ship's hull apart. The other ships completed the job, the sheer hostility of their weapons' fire showing just how much the crews hated that thing right now.

"Report!" Desolas ordered.

"The ship is destroyed, sir. We lost four cruisers, seven frigates, and other two cruisers are damaged."

"It seems we now know if this species is a threat or not. We have to act quickly, neutralize the threat," Desolas stated then he looked back at one of the consoles. "Those small heat signatures here. They seem to be members of that ship's crew. See if they are alive and send probes to capture them."

"Aye, sir."

Desolas walked around the command center. If they managed to get those prisoners, they would have much-needed information.

"Sir! Something is coming through!"

 _ **USS Starkiller:**_

As the Starkiller dropped off relay travel, John looked wide-eyed at the viewscreen and shivered. They were surrounded by unknown alien ships and there was no sign of Alaric's ship.

That wasn't good. Mass effect technology was very incompatible with their use of subspace and many of their technologies. Starfleet was slowly learning to adapt them together, but it was proving difficult. Before traveling through a relay, a Starfleet vessel needed to depolarize its hull plating and disable shields, long-range sensors, and even the structural integrity field so not to risk a very probable catastrophe. And to add to that, upon arrival, they could not be reactivated until the relay cools down and its massive mass effect field completely dissipates or the ship puts considerable distance from the relay.

To simplify, they were basically showing their necks.

"Report," he ordered.

"We are surrounded, sir. Three-hundred and seven ships of unknown configuration. I can detect no warp drive or jump engines, but they seem to use mass effect fields extensively. I can detect torpedo tubes and large mounted cannon-like weapons. They also have some form of eezo-based core, a downscaled version of the ones in the mass relays."

"It seems we found the builders of the network. Hail them, all subspace, tachyon, and radio frequencies. Send them a standard first contact package." John ordered. "And find what the hell happened to the Saxony."

"Sir, I am detecting heat residues and debris that match the tritanium-duranium hull composition of a Starfleet vessel!"

"It's the Saxony," Lieutenant Vinicius Diniz said. "They destroyed it."

"Did they respond to our hails?" John asked.

"No, sir. They- Sir! They are firing!"

"Evasive maneuvers!"

John sat back on his chair as the ship started evading the incoming fire.

"Shields?" He asked one of his officers as the ship trembled. "Can you at least polarize the hull?"

The ship trembled violently again.

"The relay is still cooling down and we are surrounded to all sides. We can't raise shields yet."

John cursed, turning back to Vinicius.

"Vin, set phasers to intercept the incoming missiles and lock photon torpedoes on the attacking ships. Collins, prepare warp drive. In the first opening we warp away."

"Aye, sir."

The ship was shaken violently as a spread of disruptor torpedoes exploded near it. John was catapulted from the Captain's chair onto a console and the hull was pulled apart, exposing the crew to the vacuum of space for a fraction of second, sucking Vinicius out before a force field sealed it.

"Vin!" John shouted.

"We have an opening!"

"Emergency warp, now!" John ordered while crawling back to his chair. "Get us out of here!"

The Starkiller's nacelles glowed bright blue as the ship stretched forward into a streak of light.

John bumped his fist violently on the arm of his chair in frustration.

 ** _Spirits of Retribution:_**

"What's happened?" Desolas shouted as the alien vessel disappeared from the sensors.

"The ship went FTL, sir. It just accelerated and ran away."

"That's impossible," Trallus said. "Didn't you say it doesn't have an element zero core."

"It doesn't, but we didn't detect a mass effect field either. Just some kind of spatial distortion and suddenly the ship disappeared!" The sensors officers explained, baffled.

Desolas looked at the reports wide-eyed. The battle lasted only mere moments, yet they lost seven ships! To a small frigate-sized vessel! And that was just because it was more concerned about not getting hit than actually hitting them. This new species is dangerous and must be destroyed, now more than ever. They must obliterate their defenses and subjugate them so this humiliating defeat won't leak to the rest of the Galaxy. Besides, the sensors officer's report got his attention. The ship really jumped to lightspeed without a mass effect core! That should be impossible but they did it. That alone made them too valuable to be let loose. Their alien stardrive and their beam weapon could give a huge advantage to the Hierarchy. Their weapons had a great punch, he would give them that, but their ships were too vulnerable to damage as they have just witnessed. They were glass cannons, lacking any heavier armor and kinetic barriers.

They could defeat them.

"Interface with the relay and download its path charts," he ordered.

"It is connected to one active relay only, sir," one of his officers said moments after.

"Good," Desolas said. "We will follow them to their world."

"Shouldn't we search for the ship?" Trallus asked him. "If we want this operation to remain hidden from the Council."

"This cluster is practically uninhabited. No living soul will find them, and their ship won't last long with all that damage. No, we must focus on what is beyond this relay," he turned to his comms officer. "Call the other two battle fleets, we may need them. These aliens may be powerful, but this will be nine-hundred Turian warships against them. They will have no chance."

Trallus walked to him.

"We are supposed to be back on Taetrus in a week," he said. "This diversion will be noticed by our government."

"That is why you are going to send them a full report. You will tell them about this new species and their strange technology and how they not only stumbled around activating relays so recklessly but destroyed eleven of our ships and damaged others."

Trallus eyes flickered and he nodded. Desolas was proud that his second-in-command knew what he meant. He didn't say it out loud but Trallus has understood. He should not mention the fact that _they_ , the Turians, were the ones that attacked first. It wasn't a lie, only an omission. Something they needed to do to guarantee that the Hierarchy would respond to the threat properly without letting legality stop them. Also, he would make sure to mention their beam weapon and unknown FTL drive. That would guarantee the Hierarchy's discretion, so they could solve this issue and reap the benefits without the Council's meddling.

Desolas stared forward as the fleet took position by the relay.

This was a chance he wouldn't let slip through the cracks. They would conquer this new species, assimilate their odd technology, and show the Galaxy what the Turian people are made of.

 **Babylon 5**  
 _ **Main Sickbay:**_

Lieutenant Stephen Franklin, Chief Medical Officer of Babylon 5, was running tests on the Dilgar patient but the results weren't quite right.

"How is she?" Commander Sinclair asked as he walked into the Main Sickbay.

"Better than she should be, considering the ferocity of the attack," Stephen answered, quite surprised. "Her metabolism is astounding! It's repairing the damage in an extremely accelerated rate."

He looked back at Sinclair.

"Did you tell her situation to Ambassador Fesa'ra yet?"

"No," Sinclair answered. "This woman is not part of her diplomatic mission."

"Really? What is she doing so far from home, then?"

"I don't know," Sinclair said contemplatively. He turned to the screen on Stephen's table. "Computer, load history file USF-222-333. Reference: Deathwalker."

 _"Commencing. Deathwalker. Epithet used to refer to Jha'dur, the most infamous leader of the Dilgar Invasion of the Non-Aligned Sectors in 2514. Rank: War Master. Specialist in biochemical, biogenetic, and cyberorganic weaponry. Jha'dur was effectively the leader of the Dilgar people after the Burn of the Council of Elders in 2497-"_

"Stop," Sinclair ordered then he glanced at Stephen. "This photo was Jha'dur eighteen years ago."

"It can't be," Stephen replied as he walked back to the patient's bed. "Jha'dur was already a late middle-aged woman by 2514. This woman is too young to be her and too old to be her daughter."

He looked at her thoughtful.

"There must be another explanation," Stephen said. "Computer, scan for any signs of cryogenic freezing or body alteration."

 _"Commencing. Scan: negative."_

"I'll check the Starfleet Medical Files," he said. "There has to be a way to make a positive identification."

"Commander," Garibaldi called as he walked into the Sickbay with a bag on his hand. "You are not gonna believe this. Her bag was still being kept in Customs."

He opened it and took out an ornate military dress uniform.

"An old Dilgar uniform. Pre-Union," Sinclair concluded and exchanged glances with Stephen.

"The rank is War Master and the nameplate reads Jha'dur," Garibaldi informed than looked at the Dilgar woman unconscious on the medbed. "Na'Toth is right. It's her."

"The uniform doesn't prove anything. Did you find anything else?" Sinclair asked.

"Only this," Garibaldi took a small box from the bag and opened it, revealing a small vial and a hypodermic syringe. "Doesn't look like any kind of drug I've ever seen. Doc?"

"I'd better run some tests on this," he answered as Garibaldi gave him the vial.

"Michael, if this woman is Jha'dur-" Sinclair was interrupted by his comm badge beeping. "Sinclair."

 _"Commander. I have Ambassador Fesa'ra here and Minister Osmanglu on Gold Channel. They are waiting to talk to you."_

"On my way," he answered and then looked back at Garibaldi. "I want you to post a detail here until she can be moved to a maximum security area. Keep a tight lid on this, Michael. Until we figure out what is going on, I don't want any rumors running around the station."

 **Babylon 5**  
 _ **Narn Embassy:**_

"I'm sorry for bringing you shame, Ambassador," Na'Toth said with her face looking down. "But I must fulfill my Chon-Kar!"

"You do not shame me, Na'Toth," he said while pouring a good glass of Terran whiskey. "I know how your senses burn with the nearness of your prey. I too have Chon-Kar, many of them. But, unhappily, in this case, yours complicates matters."

He gave the glass to her.

"I don't understand."

"Councilor Ha'Rok, the Narn you went to meet in Customs was here to bargain with Jha'dur. Our agents learned of a discovery she made which would be of great value to our Regime," he laughed. "But after your attack on her, Ha'Rok could not hope to approach her without drawing the attention of Starfleet," she glanced away from him in realization. "So, he has returned to Narn, and left me to secure this discovery of hers."

"I will take it from her when I eat her flesh," she just said.

"No," G'Kar replied calmly. "The Kha'Ri ordered that we must get her to Narn alive."

Na'Toth stood up enraged.

"I will not be denied this!"

"This is larger than Chon-Kar!" G'Kar replied, in a now annoyed and authoritative tone, as he grabbed her by the arm. "It would give Narn the advantage it needs to expand our Regime and crush our enemies!" His tone than calmed. "You must make this sacrifice for the future of our people. As all Narn have sacrificed, one time or another."

Na'Toth sighed.

"I'll delay the Chon-Kar. But I will not abandon it!"

"You would not be Narn if you did," e replied. "I am proud of you. And when we get what we want from this butcher, I promise to help you fulfill your vow."

 **Babylon 5**  
 **C &C**  
 _ **Commander's Officer:**_

"Ambassador Fesa'ra," Sinclair greeted her as he entered the room and then looked at hologram of a man being projected in the room. "Minister Osmanglu. What can I do for you."

"We understand a woman named Gyla Lobos was recently attacked there. Is she alive?" The minister asked, walking around the room.

"Yes," Sinclair answered. "And recovering."

"Excellent!" Minister Osmanglu smiled. "When she is fit to travel, you will send her to Earth immediately."

"The Union has agreed with the USF government on that," Ambassador Fera'sa told him. "As a Dilgar citizen, Ms. Lobos is under the authority of the Union and, ultimately, the USF until the occupation ends. We decided to let them investigate her origins and why she was so far from home."

"Ambassador. Minister," Sinclair said. "We found evidence that this woman might be the Dilgar war criminal Deathwalker."

"Deathwalker is long dead, Commander," Minister Osmanglu said, smiling as if he had heard a very funny joke, then he became serious again. "This is a priority order."

"Besides, letting this… this rumor spread further would be very detrimental to my work here," Ambassador Fesa'ra said. "The Union is finally opening up to the galaxy, Commander. It is a new face for my people. One that shows freedom, openness, and peaceful diplomacy. But it is still a Dilgar face and, thus, suspicious to every race out there," she sighed. "This woman's mere presence here, it draws attention to a past we are trying to let go. Sending her to Earth, a third party that everyone trusts, is the best choice."

"I'm sorry, Ambassador, but without more information I-"

"Sinclair!" The Minister interrupted. "All the information on this matter is on the need-to-know basis! And you do not need to know! Have a pleasant day." He nodded at Sinclair and the Ambassador, and his hologram faded away.

Sinclair sighed.

"I am sorry for this mess, Commander. But you know how important my mission here is."

"I understand, Ambassador," he said. "Are you making any progress with the talks?"

"Not as much as I would like to, but yes. Well, at least, they were until this incident with the fake Deathwalker. The Yolu ambassador just canceled our next meeting. Anyway, I would like to talk to her later, Commander. Maybe go to the bottom of this. Meanwhile, I have a visit and a speech scheduled to the Museum of Terran History, can't let the press waiting."

She nodded at him and walked out.

As Sinclair sighed, his comm badge beeped again.

"Sinclair."

 _"Commander,"_ Stephen said. _"She's awakened. She wants to talk to you."_

"On my way."

Sinclair got out of his office, taking the lift to the Central Plaza.

"Commander, is it true?" Ambassador Mollari's annoying voice asked from some distance, he catching up with the Commander in an instant and putting a hand on his shoulders to stop him.

"Is what true?" Sinclair asked disingenuously.

"They say you have Deathwalker in custody."

"You should know better than to listen to rumors, Ambassador," he smiled and entered the Main Sickbay building.

As he entered the Chief Medical Office, he saw Stephen standing by the door. He glanced at the Commander before turning back at the now fully conscious Dilgar sitting by the desk.

"I'm Commander Jeffrey Sinclair," he said, the Dilgar turning to his direction. "You asked to speak to me?"

The Dilgar woman nodded and then stared directly into Stephen's eyes.

"Doctor, will you give us a moment, please?" He asked Stephen, who looked back at the Dilgar, hesitant, before leaving his office.

"You know the way of command," the Dilgar complimented. "Yes… The Wind Swords are right to fear you."

"What do you know about the Wind Swords?" Sinclair asked, probing her for so much needed information.

"They have sheltered me for many years. In return for certain… services," she approached him, like a lioness rounding her prey. Her eyes sparkled with ferocious curiosity. "They speak of you often, Sinclair. They say you have a hole in your mind."

"Who are you?"

"I am War Master Jha'dur, Despot of the Dilgar Imperium."

"Deathwalker?" Sinclair asked.

"So they call me."

"If you were Jha'dur you would be much older," Sinclair replied.

She scoffed.

"You Humans, more than anyone, should understand that age is subjective," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, look at you. You are what? Ninety? Ninety-five?"

He said nothing, to which Jha'dur took as a yes.

"I studied your people, Sinclair. Your history," she continued. "Once you struggled to live past eighty, you became useless, decrepit, and old when you reached that age. Now you all can expect to most certainly reach two-hundred. You are about ninety now, but you look like a man in his forties would have looked five centuries ago," she turned her back on him to Stephen's desk. "You see, Sinclair, in my case the answer is in this vial. The result of a lifetime of research and experimentation. My research!" She said enthusiastically. "A universal anti-agapic!"

"I'm not familiar with the term."

"It's a serum which retards the aging process and prevents disease. It is still unstable and difficult to produce in sufficient quantities, but it works!" She widened her arms to him. "As you can see."

"No fear of growing old, no sickness," Sinclair thought loudly. "That is-"

"Virtual immortality," Jha'dur interrupted him. "The ultimate triumph of life-"

"An abomination!" Sinclair stated.

Jha'dur smiled.

"I expected you to react as such. I would expect any Human to do so, actually," she said. "Your culture has glorified mortality for millennia! To you, even the gods in heaven envy the briefness of human life. You experimented with immortality and it led to catastrophe," she smiled even wider to Sinclair's face after she said that last part. "The Eternals were like gods. For half a millennium they lived in an idyllic Elysian world. But you feared them. Feared their embracing of unchecked hedonism. You isolated them from the rest of Humankind because you feared what it would turn you into. Your films, your literature, centuries of cautionary tales of what Man would become if they succumbed to the lure of god-like power and vigor!"

She paused.

"Their downfall was a terrible delusion," she finally said. "It traumatized your people to such degree that you created an exclusion zone around their planet and declared it a tomb world as a monument to your loss of faith in yourselves."

"If you understand-"

"But the other races don't, Commander," she interrupted. "Immortality may not be right for you, but they will want it, and you and your people will have no right to keep it from them. The secret is mine, Sinclair. And with the help of a world of my choosing, I will bring it to all the worlds of this galaxy before the year is out!"

 **Horse Head Nebula**  
 **Volga System**  
 _ **Spirits of Retribution:**_

Lieutenant Vinicius Diniz looked at the unconscious man lying beside him. Though he had disliked the man since they met, he had to thank him, even if they would now be tortured to death. They wouldn't be alive if it weren't for the Prince Charming himself, Captain Alaric Svendsen. He may be an annoying piece of shit, but his Emergency Environmental Force Belt was a marvel. He had made only a handful prototypes, giving them to the bridge crews of the Saxony and the Starkiller. Some failed, as it was expected. Lieutenant Hawk died just after being thrown out to space, his eyes sucked out of him. The same happened to Ensign Huang. Still, he was lucky enough. Just when he was sucked into the vacuum, his belt activated, projecting an environmental force field around him that kept him alive, even if he lost consciousness.

And then they came.

Vinicius was now locked with a man he hated inside what seemed to be some kind of brig.

The universe does know irony after all.

He doesn't know how much time has passed since the battle, he was unconscious through most of the time after. But, in the meantime, he studied his surroundings.

He was definitely in some kind of brig. _Prince Charming_ was unconscious beside him with his perfect golden braided locks flowing over his annoyingly handsome short-bearded face.

They were being watched. Sometimes, a couple of alien guards would pass by, speaking in their strange language. The aliens were different than anything he had ever seem. A mix of reptile and bird, maybe. The good news was that his comm badge's translator was starting to make sense of their language. His phaser, tricorder, and belt were taken, but luckily they didn't realize his badge was a technological device too. Over time he understood more and more what they were saying.

"They look Asari, don't think?" One of the guards commented to the other.

"Thought it was only my head," the other responded. "They always looked more blue female Turians to me, but now that I have noticed…"

"Especially the one in other cell. Am sure is female and these are males."

It was just typical small talk between two bored, unwatched guards. Not that Vinicius was complaining. The translation was still wacky but it was improving the more they talked, especially thanks to the shorter, more talkative one. He felt something move beside him and saw that Alaric was waking up. He looked around before turning his blue questioning eyes to Vinicius, who signaled with his head to the guards and then to their comm badges. Alaric nodded, understanding. The badges constantly transmitted translation data between each other within a certain radius. If other crewmates were close, they would be sharing the translation matrix.

"They not look much dangerous" The bigger, less talkative alien said, looking directly into Vinicius eyes.

"Looks are deceiving," the other replied. "The Asari look weak, but wouldn't want to meet them in a fight."

"I would recommend you stop talking," an authoritative voice sounded, to which the guards stiffed.

Finally, a big alien who clearly held a higher rank came to Vinicius view outside the cell. He looked high and experienced, a respected leader. He dismissed the guards, who walked out of Vinicius line of sight.

"I am General Desolas Arterius of the Turian Hierarchy. It is good to finally talk to you both."

Vinicius said nothing, and he was relieved that Alaric did the same.

The alien- Turian general just looked at them, as if waiting for an answer.

"I know you can understand me," he finally said and pointed to their Starfleet delta-shaped comm badges. "Amazing piece of technology you have there. To think it analyzed our language and developed a translation matrix so quickly… Well, we took one as a sample from another of our… guests. One Lieutenant Carlota McLean, I think?"

Vinicius eyes widened, he knew Lieutenant McLean, she was one of the bridge officers of the Saxony.

"I see you know her," Desolas said. He was getting good in reading these Humans. Oddly enough, they were so similar to the Asari in many ways. Facial expressions, linguistic structures, even bone and muscle structure. He had figured that Lieutenant McLean was female, she just looked more Asari than these two, and despite they being actually monogendered, the Asari are generally classified as female.

His attention was brought back to the two Humans. The variation of phenotype among them was amazing. He had only seen four so far but was already impressed. The female's head-fur and eyes where bright red and green. Her light skin contrasted with her cellmate's dark brown. Those two were very unique too. One was almost as light-skinned as the female, with golden head-fur and blue eyes, while the other had slightly darker skin and dark head-fur.

"Unfortunately," Desolas continued to talk about the translator. "She didn't want to tell us how it worked. We took the liberty to take it for analysis, just like we had taken your other devices. But they just refused to work for us and some ended up self-destructing."

Vinicius was relieved. He knew the alien was talking about the tricorders he had taken from them, as well as their phasers and Alaric's sword. Human technology was designed to be used by Humans and those who are granted certain levels of clearance. He looked back at the general and decided to finally speak.

"Why did you attack us?" He asked.

"You were foolishly activating dormant relays," Desolas answered him matter-of-factly, still marveled by how he was hearing the Human speak in perfect Standard Turian thanks to the translator on his chest. "It is against Citadel law, and we are the enforcers of its law."

"Than it was only a misunderstanding," Alaric finally said something before Vinicius could respond to this. "We can still reach a solution to this through diplomatic means."

Desolas laughed.

"Your female comrade said the same. You know the way of diplomacy. It shows you are not primitive brutes, but civilized people," he then lowered his head, showing an expression that Vinicius could only understand as pity. "It is a shame I can't do what you're asking. The law you broke, it exists for a very good reason, and by breaking it you set some things in motion that cannot be stopped. Your species need to be punished, to know your place in the universe."

Vinicius saw Alaric opening his mouth to reply, but silenced him with a single glance. He wanted to hear s the alien continued.

"We are used to find the uninitiated, young species before or just after they leave their home system and start activating new relays. We show them the error of their ways when they need to and guide them in this new, complex universe they found themselves in. That is what we are going to do with your people. To teach you and protect you."

Vinicius could smell bullshit from each word Desolas spoke. They were clearly planning to conquer them.

"And how do you pretend to do this?" Alaric asked.

"We managed to get the route to your homeworld from the relay you came through. The only other system to which it is connected. I believe Lieutenant McLean called it Shanxi."

Vinicius eyes narrowed. The alien knew about Shanxi, yet they thought it to be their homeworld. That was understandable. The general himself had been implying they were a species that just started traveling through space. Of course, they would think their closest colony to be Humanity's homeworld.

Alaric realized that too, he noticed. The alien thought Shanxi was their only or at least main planet. And Lieutenant McLean certainly didn't tell him otherwise.

Vinicius looked at the general in defiance but was relieved in the inside. He also noticed that the general doesn't seem keen to interrogate them either. He could feel it around him, that aura he only felt around Minbari before. The feel of a people who believed they were on the top of the food chain, who couldn't even imagine the possibility of losing to a lower race. A feeling, he noted sadly, that was becoming very common among his people too.

"I suppose you are hungry and thirsty," Desolas said. "After comprehensive exams, we found you to be levo-amino based. Unfortunately, we cannot offer food that you'll be able to consume. But we are working on it. I have affairs to take care of now. We will talk more later."

Vinicius said nothing as the Turian bowed and walked out.

 **Babylon 5**  
 **C &C**

Sinclair entered his office. Everyone was already there waiting for him as he asked them to.

"I have talked to Lennier," he said while sitting on his chair. Ambassador Delenn had gone back to Minbar a week ago to solve matters of state. "He seemed baffled by the idea that a Minbari clan would shelter someone like her. Even if the Wind Swords are the most militant of their clans."

"Will he check with his government?" Ivanova asked.

"He said he can't speak directly to the Grey Council, but he will ask Delenn. He also agreed to keep these matters discreet."

"Where is she now?" Garibaldi asked.

"She had rented a studio apartment for the week before arriving at the station. She is at Hanging Gardens West, 10 Trafalgar Street. I detached some Security officers to watch her."

"We are keeping her roam around free?" Garibaldi asked, angry.

"We couldn't just seize her without due process or arrest her outright, Michael," Sinclair replied. "Not before I got more orders from Earth."

He sighed, then asked looked at Stephen.

"What did you find, Doc?"

"Based on the data I got from Earth, she is Jha'dur," he answered. "Which seems to prove her claims about the anti-agapic."

"Anti-a-what's-ic?"

"An immortality serum," Ivanova answered Garibaldi. "I remember it from an old 21st-century children's book I used to read."

"My analysis of the serum suggests she is not lying," Stephen said.

"Earth agrees," Sinclair sighed. "They gave us a priority order to send Jha'dur to Earth immediately. The Dilgar government plans on developing her discovering."

"Are you serious?" Garibaldi was baffled. "This woman made the Holocaust look like a children's picnic and now we must give her a grant?"

"Justice or immortality," Ivanova said. "An intriguing choice."

"There is no choice," Garibaldi replied. "Jha'dur infected the entire population of Latig 4 with Stafford's plague just to see how long it would take for them all to die! She wiped out entire races, destroyed whole planets, experimented on living beings. Now she wants to make everybody immortal? Why?"

"Maybe she has a conscience," Stephen suggested.

"Unlikely," Ivanova replied. "Tyrants seldom show remorse for their brutalities."

"And what about the Union?" Garibaldi asked. "After the war, they told us Jha'dur was dead. Was it just to save face? Because, if so, that makes them liars."

Sinclair glanced back at Ivanova and back to Garibaldi.

"I don't think the USF was completely unaware of Jha'dur's survival," he said.

"Marvelous!" Garibaldi exclaimed very sarcastically. "One more dirty little secret unveiled and my trust in our government just went a few more steps down the ladder to complete cynicism! And why are they even allowing the Union to develop the serum? We know where this quest for eternal life leads!"

" _We_ may know that, and Minister Osmanglu assured me that he advised the Union not to do this," Sinclair sighed. "However, Jha'dur is still a Dilgar citizen and any discovery she has made should be managed by the representatives of the Dilgar people. The Union had decided to put her under USF custody as an act of good faith, to show impartiality and detachment to the other governments. But now that rumors about the serum have reached them and likely other governments as well, they went back on their decision. She is to be sent to Earth, where she will go through some judicial hearings in the presence of the Dilgar ambassador in Paris before they send her to New Omelos."

"They could just say no to the Union," Garibaldi suggested. "Tell them to fuck off on this matter. We have her and the serum. We could try her and develop it ourselves. Jha'dur has become everyone's issue when she decided to step outside Dilgar space and do countless atrocities. And, after they lied to us, the Union shouldn't even be trusted neither with her nor with the serum."

"The USF can't just override Dilgar constitutional sovereignty beyond the limits _we_ imposed ourselves in the peace treaty," Ivanova said. "The terms of the occupation are very clear and if we interfered so directly and aggressively in their affairs now. Especially as we are preparing to end the occupation. The other governments could see it as us looking for any excuse to impose our will on an alien government. We would lose all credibility."

"Given the threat that our technological advancement presents to the other governments, the knowledge that the USF will always honor its treaties and walk within the limits of interstellar law and diplomacy is the only thing allowing them to sleep well at night," Sinclair told Garibaldi. "How we act now will define our future relationship with every known race."

It was visible that Garibaldi wanted to protest, but he said nothing.

Sinclair sighed and turned to Ivanova.

"It is settled. They are better equipped to deal with this political nightmare on Earth. I want Jha'dur's ship recharged and prepared in one our. Starfleet is sending a ship to tow her transport."

He stood up and walked out the room with the other but, before walking through the door, he turned back to Garibaldi, who remained standing in the same place.

"What the hell are you doing, Jeff?"

"Following orders," Sinclair answered.

"Those orders stink! Whatever Jha'dur is peddling doesn't change what she is."

"I know, damn it!" Sinclair shouted. "But if Doctor Franklin is right, her discovery could mean a lot to the galaxy! We know what the quest for immortality can bring, but even this lifespan we take for granted was once given to us through science. Now the other races can have the same. A future free of age, disease, and meaningless death! And don't let me forget the fact that it could do wonders to the image of the Dilgar in the galaxy. This could prove that they are worthy to have relations with and bring them out of that pariah status. Now Jha'dur can save more lives than she took, and she can make the deaths she caused have meaning. Isn't that worth considering?"

"Better pray for you to be right, Jeff. Because if any of the League ambassadors find out about this deal, they will tear Babylon 5 to pieces."

He walked out, leaving Sinclair there, trying to believe what he had just said to Garibaldi himself.

 **Babylon 5  
 _Jha'dur's apartment:_**

"In the name of the Narn Regime," G'Kar said, "I extend our sincerest apologies for the attack on you. We are fully prepared to make whatever reparations you deem necessary, and make a most handsome offer."

"For what?" Jha'dur asked disingenuously, sitting on the sofa.

"Your discovery, of course. The anti-agapic."

"Your very well informed, G'Kar," she said, standing up and walking to the kitchen counter. "Our reports always said you're a clever one. And a good resistance leader too. If the USF hadn't taken a hand in our invasion, we might have helped your kind wipe the Centauri out completely.

"You are also well informed Jha'dur. But we are not through with the Centauri yet, and you can still help us," he said while she poured some liquor in a glass. "Whatever the USF offered you, we will triple!"

She smiled.

"Tempting," she turned back to G'Kar. "Grant me one more thing and I'll consider it."

"Name it."

"The head of the animal that attacked me, within the hour!"

G'Kar's diplomatic smile fell off his face. He frowned, before letting an angry grunt and walking out the room, the Security officers Sinclair ordered to watch Jha'dur becoming visible as the door opened.

Jha'dur laughed. She wouldn't give it to the Narn, but it was still fun to do this. If he really wanted to, G'kar would have his loyal attaché killed so he could put his hands on the serum. It would be for nothing, but her death would certainly please Jha'dur.

It didn't take long for another to arrive.

Jha'dur ordered the door to open. Her smile fell for a fraction of second before she regained her composure.

"How low the mighty have fallen," the woman said.

"Fesa'ra, dear," Jha'dur greeted, her tone murderously sweet. "It has been a long time. I see what you did to the place. I didn't like it very much."

Fesa'ra knew she was talking about the Imperium. For fifteen years she had fought against this woman. For fifteen years she had been a very sharp rock in her shoe. Yet, they had never talked personally. Even if Jha'dur was acting as if they were old friends.

"Why now?" was all Fesa'ra asked.

"Because I was tired of hiding," Jha'dur knew she was talking about the Dilgar diplomatic expedition. She wanted to know why Jha'dur chose to arrive when Fesa'ra was here. "You see, you all may see me as a monster, but I loved Omelos more than anything. In a way that you would never understand."

"You don't know me," Fesa'ra replied.

"I know you more than you know yourself. There is no better way to know someone than to fight them, constantly, for years. I know that you can be as vicious as I was. Because you were! How many buildings did you bomb? How many people have you assassinated? How many innocent people, collateral damage in the way to your goal? We are the same."

"We are not!"

"We most certainly are," Jha'dur replied. "You have read what were left of my research diaries before you left Omelos to burn, didn't you? You know what will be the cost of what I'm offering, and still, you want it."

Fesa'ra said nothing. She got Deathwalker's veiled accusations. Omelos' sun was going nova, very few people knew that. Jha'dur's and later her government made sure of it. She decided to let it burn. To turn the page. As for the serum...

"You know," Jha'dur continued, ignoring the lack of answer to her previous question. "I used to say that I would rather see the Dilgar dead than weak. After seeing what you were doing to our people, after seeing them under the occupation of the Humans' so-called _peacekeeping forces_ , I thought you were making them weak."

She sat on the sofa and took a good gulp of the liquor.

"That is what you told yourself before you turned Omelos into a radioactive wasteland?" Fesa'ra asked.

"Yes, it was exactly that. But then I saw what you were doing," she smiled to Fesa'ra. "The build-up of your so-called _defense force_ with League technology. The push for more influence within the Babylon System. You want an empire just like I did. You are just less sincere about it. But you will do anything to achieve this goal."

"I would never choose to do anything like you did."

"Oh, enemy mine," Jha'dur said patronizingly, turning around to pick the recipient with the vial on the counter. "You already have."

As she heard Fesa'ra walking out the door, Jha'dur laughed maniacally.

 **Babylon 5**

G'Kar entered the Narn embassy building fuming in rage.

"One of our agents has just informed me that Sinclair is going to smuggle Jha'dur off the station," he told Na'Toth.

"What!"

"Blast him and that infernal female!" He shouted to the sky.

"She is near, I can smell her," Na'Toth said. "Free me from this cage and I will deal with her."

"Hm, not yet. There is a better way to delay her departure as much as we need."

He walked to his desk, activating the computer screen and calling Ambassador Kalika of the Abbai Matriarchate.

Hours later, Sinclair entered Jha'dur's apartment to find her packing.

"Your ship is recharged," Sinclair said. "We'll give you a fighter escort that will accompany you through hyperspace. A Starfleet vessel will meet you on the other end in Jericho, they will bring you to Earth."

"Most efficient," she responded. "I commend you."

She turned back to the bed to continue packing, raising her head to look back at Sinclair as she noticed he was still standing there.

"Is there something else you wish to say, Commander?"

"Doctor Franklin has confirmed the potential of your discovery, but why go to Earth? For all they know, you're just a rogue Dilgar posing as a dead person."

"Do you really believe that, Commander? Do you really think they don't know I'm the real deal?" She smiled. "You have too much faith in your government. And in Fesa'ra. She is not who you think she is. Don't trust her."

"You know Humanity will want nothing to do with your discovery," he responded, ignoring her accusations. "And the Dilgar listen to us, they will know that this is a mistake. Then, again, why go to Earth? Why give your discovery to us when you know we can just destroy any trace of it."

"Because it was Humanity who turned the tide against my race," she answered. "Thus it is fitting that you benefit from your conquest."

"It was more an act of preservation. You slaughtered mercilessly," he said, disgusted, "exterminated whole races, committed acts beyond the belief of all sentient beings."

She sneered.

"The Wind Swords said you're sentimental. A fatal flaw in a warrior."

"You still haven't explained," Sinclair said. "Why do you wanna help the same people you butchered eighteen years ago?"

"My world is gone," she answered, now serious. "My race's name cursed in history. Like the Germans in our world, the others will never truly forget what we did. But my discovery will ensure that the galaxy remembers me and my race with honor! It will be a monument to our vision, a vision that you replaced so violently with that travesty you call the Union."

"A monument?" Sinclair asked. "That is what you're after?"

"Delicious irony, don't you think? That those who cursed us will have to thank us for the rest of time."

Sinclair frowned. The door opened and the security officers escorted her out.

He and Garibaldi were now walking Jha'dur out of the building escorted by Security officers armed with phaser rifles.

"Are you hearing this?" Garibaldi asked.

As they got off of the lift into the lobby Sinclair saw what Garibaldi was talking about.

Blocking the front doors were Ambassador Kalika and many other League ambassadors. In the outside, Sinclair could see a growing agglomeration with Humans and aliens shouting and protesting with posters.

Ambassador Kalika walked to him.

"Commander Sinclair," she said. "That woman is the war criminal Jha'dur, known to our worlds as Deathwalker. We demand a full assembly at once, to discuss her trial on crimes against sentience!"

"Ambassador Kalika, I'm sure the USF will welcome all your representatives to discuss this matter. However, Jha'dur is in my custody and I have orders to send her to Earth. Orders I cannot disobey."

"You will have to kill us all first," she stated. "Besides, we called the press to register your actions here and now. You will realize that your model of mass media and news broadcasting is becoming quite popular in some of our worlds."

Sinclair said nothing for a moment, then sighed.

"Very well," he said. "We will convene in three hours. Jha'dur will stay here, in her quarters, under heavy watch until then."

Ambassador Kalika bowed to him and turned to walk out with the other ambassadors.

"A fatal flaw, indeed," Jha'dur commented.

"Mr. Garibaldi, escort that woman back to her quarters and double the guard on her. I will handle the press."

He walked out of the building to the crowd.

"Commander Sinclair," a reporter asked. "Vidya Roshan, from the Tower of Babe. Would you confirm that the woman you were about to escort out of the building is Deathwalker?"

"Is it true that the USF and the Dilgar Union were colluding to smuggle her to Earth without the League's knowledge?" Another one asked.

"How will this crisis affect Ambassador Fesa'ra's mission here in B5?"

"Why did the Union lie about Deathwalker's death eighteen years ago?"

Sinclair raised his hand to quiet them.

"Yes, she is Deathwalker. I can only say that the Advisory Council will be meeting in three hours," he answered while walking through the agglomeration to his car that was landing by the sidewalk. "We will listen to the concerns and opinions of all interested parties and then decide what is the best course of action on this situation. Now I have to contact Earth for more instructions, and I'm in a real hurry. If you would allow me, no more questions. Thank you."

He entered the car and drove away.

Three hours later, he was in the Advisory Council room waiting for the session to start.

"You know we're sitting on an armed tricobalt warhead here," Garibaldi said as he walked in.

"At least it is out in the open now," Sinclair said. "Jha'dur will get the justice she deserves."

"Don't be so sure. The Narn and the Centauri both collaborated with the Dilgar. The last thing they want is a trial."

"True," Sinclair agreed. "But with my vote and the Minbari vote, the council will be deadlocked and the League will have the deciding vote."

Garibaldi nodded.

"What about Kosh?" He asked.

"He refuses to participate as usual."

"What makes you so sure the Minbari will vote for the trial?"

"They have no reasons not to, and they are an honorable people," Sinclair answered.

Garibaldi nodded, looking anywhere but at Sinclair, visibly feeling awkward.

"Look, Jeff," he said. "I got a little hot before, said some things-"

"Forget it. You didn't say anything I hadn't thought of myself."

Garibaldi nodded with a smile.

"Well. Almost all the ambassadors are here and the chamber is secure. Good luck."

He walked out.

"So, I shouldn't listen to rumors, huh?" Ambassador Mollari said to Sinclair as he walked in.

"Sorry, Ambassador. We thought it best to handle this quietly."

"Ah," Londo expressed, looking to the chaos around him. "Great job!"

"Mr. Lennier," Sinclair called as the young Minbari walked in. "Have you spoken to Ambassador Delenn?"

"Yes, Commander," he answered awkwardly. "And I've been given instructions."

That confused Sinclair, but he dropped it. He walked to sat on his spot by the main table. Ambassadors G'Kar and Mollari were already there, as was Lennier. He signaled to the other ambassadors present to go to their seats.

"This meeting of the Babylon 5 Advisory Council is called to order. Ambassador Fesa'ra, representing the Dilgar Constitutional Union will give her explanations and then Ambassador Kalika, representing the League of Non-Aligned Worlds will make her statement."

"Thank you, Commander," Fesa'ra said while standing up. "Members of the council and the League, most of you here have known me for a very short time yet all of you know who I am. For the last weeks, I have had talks with most of you in an effort to build bridges and leave behind old grudges," she paused. "We were victims of that woman too. We were forced to see things, to do things, to believe in things that no one should. For fifteen years I fought Jha'dur and her regime, and with Humanity's help we managed to oust her. It cost us our world, our ancestral home, but we finally felt safe. However, it became clear now that she has fooled us, managed to make us believe she was dead," she looked down. "In my efforts to build a Dilgar society predicated on freedom, prosperity, and diplomacy, I made a mistake. I was afraid of your reactions to her return. So I convinced Earth that she was not Jha'dur, and decided to hijack her from the eyes of the galaxy. Her mere presence could open a wound that I and my people worked so hard to treat. For that, I apologize to the League and the other governments as well," she turned to Ambassador Kalika. "As the representative of the Dilgar Constitutional Union, I have a proposition directly from the Office of the President. We offer that Jha'dur be brought to New Omelos, where she will be under our and Starfleet custody. In the meantime, every one of your governments can elect a representative that will form a council of judges, which will try Deathwalker for her crimes against sentience. Please, see that as an act of good faith, in the hopes for a future and healthy relationship. Thank you."

Fesa'ra sat back. The League representatives started to boo and talk loudly at each other. As Sinclair silenced them, Ambassador Kalika stood up.

"Eighteen years ago," she started, "the Dilgar fell upon our worlds, bringing terror, slavery, and death. With the help of the United Systems Federation and, I must point it out, Ambassador Fesa'ra's former resistance group, we drove them out of our sectors and brought their leaders to justice. All but one. The worst of the lot. Deathwalker!"

The League representatives started to shout again.

"Now, the winds of faith have delivered her into our hands," Ambassador Kalika continued. "We of the League have decided that Jha'dur be tried for her crimes against sentience. However," she turned to Fesa'ra," we cannot agree to the Union's proposal. Maybe you really believed Jha'dur was dead, and maybe you lied to us to further your own agendas. We don't really know, but the Union's decision to disregard the opinion of all of the League and take Jha'dur back into their hands is a proof they can't be trusted yet."

She turned to the main table by which sat the representatives of the main powers and continued:

"The League asks that Jha'dur be tried. And that she be tried as soon as possible, here in Babylon 5. We now ask that the Advisory Council approve this decision."

She went back to her seat.

"Ambassador Mollari," Sinclair called.

"This woman, Deathwalker, is indeed a great villain," he said as he stood up. "We Centauri weep for what she did to your worlds. However, because she has committed no crime against our Republic, I must reluctantly vote no."

Londo sat back as the League started to shout in outrage.

"I'm not surprised the Centauri are opposed to a trial," G'Kar said. "It is well known the Dilgar were merely mercenaries for their republic."

"That is a lie!" Londo replied to him. "It was you Narn who collaborated with this scum."

"Centauri propaganda to hinder our revolution."

"That is enough," Sinclair interrupted G'Kar. "Your vote, Ambassador."

"The Narn Regime is noted for its keen sense of justice," he said as he stood up, looking proud and righteous. "Therefore we vote yes."

The League started to loudly express their satisfaction.

"On one condition," he continued. "That the trial be held on Narn. Our neutrality during the invasion assures fairness. We are prepared to transport her there immediately."

"The Narn have no right to try Jha'dur," Ambassador Kalika stated over her colleagues' outcry. "We are well aware of their involvement with her. Their proposal is unacceptable!"

"In that case, the Narn Regime also votes no," G'Kar said, spiteful.

The outcry started again, to which Sinclair again had to silence the League.

"Ambassador Kosh has declined to take part in these proceedings," he said. "On behalf of the United Systems Federation, I vote yes."

Ambassador Kalika looked relieved and the rest of the League showed their satisfaction.

"Mr. Lennier."

Lennier move on his chair awkwardly.

"As the Minbari were not a part of this conflict," he said slowly as if trying to make sense of what he was saying. "We have no right to judge her. We must, therefore, vote no."

The outcry was louder than ever. Sinclair looked at Lennier, surprised, but the Minbari couldn't look back. Sinclair regained his composure.

"The decision is three to two against the trial, with one abstention. I'm afraid we must find another solution."

"This is outrageous!" Ambassador Kalika stood up. "Commander Sinclair, you have always said that our worlds have a voice here. Will you now deny us this voice?"

"I'm afraid the rules of the assembly are very clear, but I have a compromise I-"

"No!" Ambassador Kalika replied. "No more compromises. We will no longer be dictated to by the very powers who aided this woman's atrocities! We withdraw from this assembly! And rest assured you have not heard the last of this!"

She and the other League ambassador's stormed out of the chambers. Ambassador Fesa'ra, as well as Londo and G'Kar, walked out soon after.

Lennier sighed.

"I am sorry, Commander," he said. "I have caused this evil woman to escape her destiny."

"The Wind Swords did shelter her, didn't they?" Sinclair asked. "And your government knew about it."

"No. Not at first," he breathed deeply. "When we went to war against you, you made us desperate. We had never fought anything like you. Then, the Wind Swords came to the Grey Council with weapons, terrible weapons. Biological, chemical, radiological... All created by this monster. That is when the Council first learned she was with them. Of course, they could not reveal it then. Like all the secrets long kept, we can no longer bear the shame of admitting it now."

He stood up and walked out of the room.

 **Babylon 5**  
 **C &C**

"Lt Commander," one of the officers at a console called Ivanova. "Our hyperspace sensors are detecting ships entering our detection perimeter."

"Detailed analysis," she ordered.

"Seventeen ships, ma'am. Drazi Sun-Hawks. 88% accuracy."

"We have the Drazi vessel online," another officer reported.

"Put them through," Ivanova ordered.

The Drazi captain appeared onscreen.

"Babylon 5. This is Makar Ashok. In the name of the Drazi Freehold, I demand immediate extradition of the war criminal Jha'dur. Reject this demand and we will attack immediately."

"Makar Ashok, I really hope you don't do this. You and I are prohibited by treaty to have any heavier defense or station warships in this system, but don't be mistaken. We still have an entire fighter wing to our disposition. Valkyries. AC-307 Mk II. You will find their power quite impressive, for a few seconds."

The Drazi hissed before ending the call, to which Ivanova sighed.

"Ma'am, more ships entered our detection range," an officer said. "This time, thirty-eight ships. Twelve Abbai Matrona-class cruisers, seven Iksha Dark Sun-class battleglobes, and nineteen Vree Xill-class battle saucers. 76% accuracy."

Ivanova's comm badge beeped.

 _"What is happening?"_ Commander Sinclair asked as she answered his call.

"The Drazi want the immediate extradition of Jha'dur. I imagine that the Iksha, the Vree, and the Abbai will make similar demands. ETA, one hour."

 _"Can you stall them?"_

"I can try, but-"

 _"Do it,"_ he interrupted and ended the call.

He sighed awkwardly before opening the channel.

"Welcome to Babylon 5," she greeted. "I am Lt Commander Ivanova. How may we be of assistance?"

 **Babylon 5**  
 _ **Commander's Office:**_

"Ambassador, call off those ships," Sinclair asked. "The League and the USF have always been friends. If you attack the station, you will only cause more tragedy. The USF will have to defend itself and the people under its protection. You know you can't win this engagement, and you risk having to fight more Starfleet vessels that may come to our aid."

"Your overconfidence offends me and all the League, Commander," Ambassador Kalika replied. "Yes, we know very well of your military and technological prowess and we recognize our disadvantage. But any government that just lets more powerful governments dictate on their matters is no stable government. We are united as one in this issue, and we will not let anyone, not even the USF, hijack justice when it is in our grasp."

"We can settle this matter diplomatically."

"At the moment, we do not put much faith in Babylon 5 diplomacy. I'm afraid we will soon sever our ties with this place."

"There is something you should know before making that decision," Sinclair stated.

 **Babylon 5**  
 **C &C**

"What is the situation?" Sinclair asked as he walked into C&C.

"Well, they arrived two hours ago," Ivanova answered. "I've managed to get the fleet captains engaged in a debate over who has the best claim to Jha'dur. The winner will be the first to attack."

"Creative. Let's hope it buys us enough time."

Ivanova nodded, hopeful.

"Lt Commander, the ships are moving out of firing range," one of her officers reported.

Ivanova looked back at the screens, seeing the ships turn around.

"What did you do?" She asked Sinclair, crossing her arms.

"I played a wild card. But we're not out of this yet. Stay on alert. I'll be in closed session with the League."

"Yes, sir," she answered.

"Good job, Lt Commander," he complimented her and walked out the room.

As he stepped out of the lift into the corridor and entered his office, Ambassador Kalika and another two League ambassadors were already waiting for them. Ambassador Fesa'ra walked in soon after.

He dismissed the security officer who had escorted them in and sat by his desk.

"So?" He asked

"Well," Ambassador Kalika started. "Seven of our most renowned scientists have checked Dr. Franklin's data. They concur with his assessment. A most astounding discovery. But Deathwalker must still be punished for her crimes."

"I agree," Sinclair said. "And I have a compromise which may serve all our needs."

He turned to Fesa'ra.

"I talked to Commander Sinclair and we came up with a plan," she said. "The Union is prepared to develop Jha'dur's discovery immediately. We propose that the League choose a coalition of scientists to assist her. And, despite their reservations towards immortalist endeavors, the USF agreed to send observers to guarantee the fair sharing of research data. When this coalition is satisfied and the serum is ready, Jha'dur will be turned over to the League for trial."

Ambassador Kalika leaned to hear the other ambassadors opinions. She looked at Fesa'ra, suspicious, then at Sinclair.

"Can we trust the USF will honor this agreement?"

"And what of the Council?" other ambassador asked after Kalika.

Fesa'ra answered in his place.

"This is a leap of faith that the Union is taking, of faith in the League," she said. "This new enterprise will not only allow for all of you to make some good off Jha'dur's atrocities but to build trust between your governments. It will be the first step to a new relationship between the Dilgar and the galaxy."

Kalika turned back at Sinclair, waiting for a confirmation.

"The USF recognizes the Union as the ultimate authority over Jha'dur," he stated. "But, since they agreed to this compromise, we can now pressure them to meet their part of the bargain as the adjudicating authority. As for the council, they already made their decision. This agreement is between the USF, the Union, and the League. Just as it was eighteen years ago when we helped you defeat that woman."

Kalika looked back at the other ambassadors, who nodded.

"It is fair," she said. "And wide."

Sinclair sighed in relief. He looked at Fesa'ra, who gave him back a little smile.

 **Babylon 5**  
 _ **Jha'dur's apartment:**_

Jha'dur was standing before a big mirror, adjusting her military dress uniform. Her medals in her chest and a proud grin on her face.

"It's time," Garibaldi said as he and Sinclair walked in.

"Good," she responded.

"I'm glad Na'Toth didn't succeed," Sinclair commented. "I'm looking forward to your trial."

She sneered.

"Are you really that naive, Commander?" she adjusted her collar. "Do you imagine the Union will permit this charade of yours to be carried out?"

"I will see that they do," he replied.

She sneered again and turned away from the mirror to him.

"I told you not to trust Fesa'ra," she shrugged. "Well, it will only cost you your command," she stated. "It's the way of things, Sinclair. The superior control the inferior. In the final analysis, we've won. _I_ won."

"I don't think so."

"No?" She asked. "You see. I couldn't possibly have done what I did by myself. I had an entire society behind me. Fesa'ra has in me the perfect sacrificial lamb, painting the Dilgar people as the scared flock of sheep who couldn't ever say no to the orders of the terrible Deathwalker," she smiled mockingly. "It is a fallacy, a romanticized version of history she wrote to make my people feel better about themselves."

"I still don't see your point," Sinclair stated.

"Then consider this," she answered. "You and the rest of your kind take blind comfort in the belief that we are monsters, that you could never do what we did."

Her smiled became wider with irony as she wore her leather gloves and walked closer.

"The key ingredient of the anti-agapic cannot be synthesized," she explained. "It must be taken from living beings. For one to live forever, another one must die. You will fall upon each other like wolves. It will make what we did pale by comparison. The billions who live forever will be a testimony to our work. And the billions who will die to buy that immortality will be the continuance of my work. Not like us? You will become us! That's my monument, Commander."

"Get her the hell off of my station," Sinclair ordered Garibaldi with disgust visible on his face.

As he arrived at the VIP lounge moments later, he looked at the large window as it showed the Minbari flyer leaving the station, a part of the window zoomed into the small transport as it flew headed to the jumpgate, the three Valkyries on her tail.

"Ambassador Kosh?" He heard Garibaldi say and turned to see the Vorlon entering the lounge, surprising all the other ambassadors and diplomats.

"The jumpgate is activating," he heard someone say as the blue vortex burst into existence and an alien looking yellowish ship came through it.

"It is a Vorlon ship!" Garibaldi said.

The ship's forward arms glowed as it fired into the small crystalline transport, vaporizing it instantaneously, and went back to hyperspace.

"Well," Londo said, laughing. "All is well that ends well, huh?"

"Why?" Sinclair asked Kosh.

His iris widened and compressed back

"You are not ready for immortality," he said with his melodious voice before turning around and leaving without further explanation.

 **Horse Head Nebula**  
 **Orbit of Shanxi**  
 _ **Starbase Sagres:**_

As the sun rose behind the planet below, Captain Zayd Yaqub, kept watching while drinking from his first mug of black coffee in this new day.

He had been the captain of this small station since its inauguration. As it was sometimes allowed for the first commanding officer, he chose the name Sagres to christen it.

Sagres was a small village at the most southern tip of Portugal, on Earth. Unimportant by any standard, except for those who loved history. During the 14th and 15th centuries, it was the focal point of all naval endeavors of Portugal, the first European country to sail the ocean blue and start what would become known as the Age of Discovery. Under the patronage of Infante Henry, the Navigator, it was a center of nautical, astronomic, and engineering studies.

Starbase Sagres would be that. A focal point of exploration and learning, catapulting Humanity to where no one has gone before.

It was a dream, and he gave an appropriate name to it.

Shanxi just had this potential. It was the only colonized system in Horse Head Nebula, and they discovered many new relays connected to the system.

His comm badge beeped and he answered it.

 _"Sorry to interrupt, sir. But we are detecting activity in the relay. It is activating,"_ one of his lieutenants reported through the badge.

"It must be the Saxony and the Starkiller," Zayd replied.

"That is the problem, sir. They haven't sent us their confirmation codes."

That worried Zayd. The Shanxi-Theta is within Shanxi's orbit, extremely close to the planet. Closer than Luna is to Earth.

"I'm on my way."

Just as he entered the Command Center, he saw through the viewscreen as hundreds of unknown ships started to appear around the relay and started firing without provocation.

"Red Alert!" He ordered. "Raise shields and prepare weapons!"

The weapons of fifteen of those ships impacted on the Sagres's shields, shaking the station violently.

"Report!"

"More than three hundred ships of unknown configuration, sir. Their hulls are made of a composite titanium alloy, but it is much denser than it should be! No shields, no warp drive, no jump engines. The weapon they hit us with is a form of eezo-powered mass accelerator. I'm detecting a miniature version of a relay's eezo core and powerful mass effect fields all around those ships."

"Our forces?"

"We have three ships now breaking into combat, the Okinawa, the Huangdi, and the Positano. Two Bellerophon-class and one Vesta-class. We also have ten orbital defense platforms."

The station was hit again.

"Open the channel to Starfleet Command!"

"Aye, sir."

"Starfleet Command, this is Captain Zayd Yaqub of Starbase Sagres, orbiting the Shanxi colony. We are under attack! I repeat we are under attack! The aggressors are an unknown race that came through the Shanxi-Theta Relay. They use mass effect-based technology. I repeat, they use mass effect-"

He was interrupted by another attack that shook the station. When he looked back, the transmission was ended.

"Report!" he shouted.

"They destroyed the subspace transceiver and are jamming radio, sir! We can't contact Starfleet!"

"Shit!" He cursed. "We will defend this world. There are three and a half million people down there."

He turned to one of his officers.

"Ashleigh, coordinate with our three ships. Attack Pattern Omega-7!"

 ** _Spirits of Retribution:_**

Right now, General Desolas Arterius was not a happy Turian. The relay was too close to the planet. On one hand, it gave them a good element of surprise, on the other, they had to rush the attack.

Those beams of death were cutting through his ships like butter, ignoring kinetic barriers as if they were not there. Besides, the enemy station and ships were now protected by some kind of barrier that the previous ones had not displayed. It resisted to insane amounts of fire, making Desolas more desperate to destroy them.

He knew about the station and the defense platforms, of course, the female Human prisoner had told him after hours of interrogation. She had said nothing about their capabilities, though.

"Sir, the three ships, they are circling us."

"Our formation is working in our detriment," he answered. "Order the fleet to spread and focus its fire on the station, it is the biggest threat. Have them prepare disruptor torpedoes and fire them at the first openings on their shields."

"Aye, sir."

Desolas looked at the battle unfolding. His dreadnought stayed behind, as it was common, firing its powerful main gun at the station every two seconds while his cruisers kept firing at the defense platforms.

"One of the ships was destroyed, sir!" One of his lieutenants reported, incapable of hiding his joy, then his face became grim again. "The Invictus managed to fire a spread of disruptor torpedoes at it just as their barriers dropped, but it was hit by two of their warheads just after. The explosion also damaged the Primarch Zeltus and the Spirit's Fire!"

Desolas looked at the data. The torpedo had been stopped by the barriers, but the explosion was too powerful to be contained.

"We already lost one hundred and twenty ships, sir!"

That wasn't right. Desolas slapped his subordinate out of the console to look for himself.

It was true.

That couldn't be.

It was supposed to be easier than that. They already lost half of their fleet and only managed to destroy two of their ships and most of the defense platforms. He saw his mood go up as the third ship was torn apart, but it was short-lived. A second later, three of those beams were fired by the small station, slicing through seven of his ships as if they were nothing.

"Tell the entire fleet to fire on that damned station!" he ordered, his voice cracking with rage.

 ** _Starbase Sagres:_**

The station shook as the fire of seventy ships slammed on the station's remaining shields, draining them completely.

"Shields are down, sir!" One of his tactical officers.

"We still have a chance," he said. "They entered formation again, now we can make the most of our attacks. Fire full spread of quantum torpedoes, Attack Vector Theta-5."

He looked with awe as the cluster of glowing blue orbs flew rapidly into the enemy, their laser point-defense systems taking out a number of them before they started exploding, taking with them most of their fleet.

His station shook violently too. There were only a couple dozen enemy ships remaining. But the battle was now being fought at very close distances, and though it gave the enemy much less time to react to the torpedoes, it also meant that the station and the planet would be exposed to explosions too.

Power conduits started exploding, plasma was now leaking everywhere. His Command Center was in crumbles. People were dead everywhere.

"Sir, the relay is activating!" one of his remaining officers, hopeful.

Zayd wanted to feel such hope too, but couldn't. His gut was saying otherwise.

He had his answer when hundreds of alien ships, the same design as the others started appearing beside the relay and firing with everything they had.

"Computer," he said. "Emergency teleport. Evacuate the remaining crew to Shanxi."

Many had already died. Many would still die, as the computer would not be able to teleport everybody in time. But some would live to fight those bastards.

Zayd looked up and, for the first time in his life, he prayed to the God of his ancestors. He had nothing to lose.

 _ **Spirits of Retribution:**_

Desolas found real joy for the first time since this battle started as he saw the cursed space station being torn apart by the incoming Turian forces. With the other two battle fleets here, they now had more than six hundred ships and one hundred thousand troops to secure this world.

His own fleet was all but gone, only about thirty ships still working. It was a bloody, bitter victory, but still a victory.

As the only general among them, the two officers commanding the other battle fleets still only in the imminence of being promoted, Desolas would take command of their combined forces. He would crush these people, crush their pride and their hope. He would crush them and then shape them into something that would be to the benefit of the Hierarchy.

"Run a full scan of the planet," he ordered. "I want to know their military bases, their population centers, their hiding places, everything."

He turned at Trallus.

"I will have a chat with our most honored guests," he said, looking at the hologram in front of him which displayed the planet below and the debris from the previous battle. Despite their homeworld being as well defended as he expected from any race that had just started exploring the stars, the battle was a bloody victory. It didn't matter. Turian might have defeated them. It was time to see the hope fading from their expression. He turned to Trallus. "Contact the Raptor's Shadow and the Miracle of Palaven. Order Executor Bellanius and Executor Maxidus to prepare all their ground combat assets. The mock battles are over. We are landing."

* * *

 **I would like to say that I took inspiration to my First-Contact War scenario from Made Nightwing's fanfic 'The Siege of Shanxi', one of the best fanfics I've seen here. All credit where it is due, his is one of the best pieces of writing I have seen in this site. It is complex and very well thought. Mine will not be so much.**


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